Religious education (RE) in schools in Northern Ireland does not comply with human rights standards and is unlawful, the UK Supreme Court has ruled.
The UK’s highest court upheld an appeal brought by a pupil at a school in Belfast and her father.
It reinstated an earlier court ruling that the teaching of RE and collective worship in the country breaches human rights, as it does not approach the subject in an “objective, critical and pluralist manner”.
The pupil, known as JR87, took part in non-denominational Christian religious education and collective worship at a controlled primary school in Belfast in 2019.
Her parents wrote a letter to the school about their concerns that their daughter’s education did not appear to conform with their own religious and philosophical convictions.
The school replied by confirming its provision of religious education and collective worship was “Bible-based” and it followed the core syllabus for education.
JR87 and her father, known as G, challenged the legality of this and sought judicial review against the country’s Department of Education.
Lawyers for the pair argued the religious education and collective worship at the school contravened their human rights, requiring the state to provide education to “respect the right of parents to ensure such education is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions”.
In 2022, the High Court in Belfast found in the family’s favour and said the Christian RE taught and collective worship in schools in Northern Ireland was unlawful.
But this was overturned by the Court of Appeal, so the family took their case to the UK Supreme Court.
In a unanimous judgment, the court allowed the appeal and dismissed a cross-appeal brought by the department.
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‘Indoctrination’
Delivering the judgment, Lord Stephens said: “The Court of Appeal was wrong in its application of established principles of ECHR law and should not have departed from the (High Court) judge’s finding that the parents had valid concerns in relation to withdrawing JR87 from religious education and collective worship.
“Furthermore, the Court of Appeal fell into error in making a distinction between indoctrination and the state conveying information or knowledge in a manner which was not objective, critical, and pluralistic.
“The concepts are two sides of the same coin: conveying knowledge in a manner that is not objective, critical, and pluralistic amounts to pursuing the aim of indoctrination.”
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Judgment ‘not about secularism’
Lord Stephens also said the Court of Appeal should have found having to withdraw JR87 from religious education was “capable of placing an undue burden” on her parents.
He said the judgment “was not about secularism in the education system” and made clear “no one is suggesting that RE should not be provided in schools in Northern Ireland”.
“The family strongly support the provision of religious education provided it does not amount to indoctrination,” he added.
Responding to the judgment, Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, solicitor for JR87 and her father, said it was a “watershed moment” for educational rights.
DUP leader and Northern Ireland’s former education minister, Michelle McIlveen, described the ruling as “deeply disappointing”.
Humanists UK called on the UK government to “urgently review” the RE and collective worship laws in state schools in England.
