CNCD Decision 323/2006

CNCD Decision 323/2006 is a decision of Romania's National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) regarding the display of religious symbols in public schools. The decision was brought to the CNCD by Emil Moise, a teacher and parent from Buzău County, who stated that the public display of Orthodox icons in classrooms constitutes an infringement of Romania's separation of church and state and discriminates against atheist, agnostic and non-religious people.

In November 21, 2006, the CNCD upheld Moise's complaint, ruling that the Ministry of Education, who operates public schools, must "respect the secular character of the state and the autonomy of religion" and that "religious symbols must only be shown during religion lessons or in areas dedicated exclusively to religious education."

History

In 2005, Emil Moise (who is himself Orthodox) [ [http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2006-11-18&id=211404 Emil Moise a dat în judecată Inspectoratul Judeţean] ("Emil Moise has sued the County Inspectorate"), "Ziua", 18 November 2006] took the Buzău County School Inspectorate to court due to the presence of Romanian Orthodox icons in his daughter's school, the Margareta Sterian Art High School in Buzău. He claimed that the presence of such religious symbols in a state institution is an infringement of Romania's constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. The Buzău County Court ruled on March 27, 2005, in Decision 157/2005, that:

In this way, the County Court rejected Moise's complaint, upholding the maintenance of the religious symbols in the Margareta Sterian Art High School. Moise appealed to the Ploieşti Court of Appeals, which upheld the County Court's decision on July 20, 2006.

In July 2006, Moise filed a complaint at the National Council for Combating Discrimination, or CNCD, Romania's anti-discrimination and equality watchdog, claiming discrimination on the basis of religion under Romania's anti-discrimination law of 2000, and asking for the removal of religious symbols from all Romanian public education institutions.

On November 13, 2006, a number of Romanian non-governmental organisations sent a letter to the CNCD backing Moise's complaint. These included the Pro Democratia Association, the Noesis Cultural Society, the Education 2000+ Centre, the Centre for International Studies, ACCEPT, the Agency for Press Monitoring, the Pro Europa League, the Centre for Juridical Resources, the Centre for Independent Journalism and the Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience. The political analyst Cristian Pârvulescu, the human rights activist Renate Weber and the Romanian branch of Indymedia also supported the complaint. [Adriana Petrescu et al., [http://romania.indymedia.org/ro/2006/11/1713.shtml Scrisoare catre CNCD re: simboluri religioase] ("Letter to the CNCD re: religious symbols"), Indymedia Româna, 13 November 2006.]

On November 14, 2006, Emil Moise was interviewed at the CNCD's headquarters in Bucharest. On the same date, the Secretary of State for Religious Affairs, Adrian Lemeni, also made a submission to the CNCD, asking that the religious symbols be maintained in schools. He argued that Orthodox icons were not an object of "religious veneration", but rather a symbol of freedom, "as well as having a powerful national symbols, being considered expressions of Romania's spiritual and cultural heritage." He concluded by saying that:

Decision

The CNCD's decision on Moise's complaint was made on November 21, 2006. On this date, the organisation disclosed a press release outlining that its decision and stating that a more complete explanation will be available in 15 days, according to law. The decision stipulated that:

cquote|the Ministry of Education must elaborate and implement an internal regulation, in a reasonable amount of time, that regulates the presence of religious symbols in institutions of public education. This internal norm must be based on the following principles:

# It must assure the right to education and access to culture on the basis of equality;
# It must respect the right of parents to assure their children's education based on their religious and philosophical beliefs;
# It must respect the secular character of the state and the autonomy of religions;
# It must assure the freedom of religion, conscience and beliefs of all children on the basis of equality;
# Religious symbols may only be displayed during religious education classes and in areas intended exclusively for religious education.

The CNCD's president, Csaba Ferenc Asztalos, stated that " [Through this decision] , we recognised the relationship between the state and religions in Romania; we haven't touched on the historical recognition of the contributions of Christianity to the formation of the Romanian people. Now we call on the state, through the Ministry of Education, to assume its responsibilities on what happens in schools in this respect." [http://www.bbc.co.uk/romanian/news/story/2006/11/061122_simboluri_religioase_romania.shtml Şcoala - cu sau fără simboluri religioase?] ("School - with or without religious symbols?"), BBC Romanian Service, November 22, 2006]

Response

The CNCD decision provoked widespread public debate on the issue of religious symbols of public schools, and also on the overall role of religion in Romanian society.

Emil Moise

Emil Moise lauded the CNCD's decision to uphold his complaint, claiming it was "an extraordinary result" in the separation between church and state, and that "this is what the legislation for combating discrimination states". He also declared that, "the Ministry of Education has a single thing to do now: to respect the CNCD's recommendation. Otherwise, I will return to court..."

Government

After the CNCD's ruling, the Ministry of Education and Research responded that "due to the special character of the decisions which must be taken", it would send the ruling to the Education Commission of the Romanian Parliament for debate. The Ministry declined further comment until the CNCD decision is fully published (by December 6, 2006 at the latest). [ [http://www.edu.ro/index.php/pressrel/7034 M.Ed.C. consideră oportună dezbaterea in Parlament a deciziei Colegiul Director al Consiliului Naţional pentru Combaterea Discriminării] ("The Ministry of Education and Research considers necessary a parliamentary debate on the CNCD's decision"), Press release, 21 November 2006] Since then, it has not issued any further comment, and it is unclear whether it has implemented the CNCD's ruling or not.

Religious groups

The Patriarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church issued a press release on November 23, 2006 criticising the CNCD decision as an attack on "freedom of religion". The release stated that "the presence of religious symbols in schools is not the result of an imposition, but rather of the desire and consent of parents, teachers and students in conformity with the religious and cultural values which they share. Consequently, a decision to exclude [these symbols] would represent a brutal and unjustified measure of restraining religious liberty, contrary to European democratic principles. Such a decision would lead to the discrimination of Romanian [religious] believers." [ [http://www.patriarhia.ro/Stiri/2006/115.html Comunicat de presă - 23 noiembrie 2006] ("Press release - 23 November 2006"), Patriarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church]

Additionally, the spokesperson of the Orthodox Church, Constantin Stoica, declared that the issue of religious symbols in schools should be resolved by local communities and not be regulated by "neither the Church, nor the Ministry of Education, nor the CNCD". He also declared that "just as the majority must respect the rights of minorities, minorities must also respect the rights of the majority", echoing the Church's line that the CNCD decision went against Romania's Orthodox majority, which forms approximately 87% of the population according to the 2001 census.

Other religious groups also criticised the CNCD's decision. The Roman Catholic Archbishopric of Bucharest characterised the decision as "abusive and discriminatory" and going against the "sensibilities and religious freedoms of the Romanian people". The Armenian Orthodox Church in Romania compared the decision to a nihilistic stance, and stated that while "Emil Moise wishes to be a defended of the rights of atheist children... the atheist is indifferent, neutral, on the subject of symbols of the divinity; he denies rather than combats God." [http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2006-11-29&id=211988 Doar CNCD şi Moise din Buzău sunt ofensaţi de icoane] ("Just the CNCD and Emil Moise from Buzău are offended by icons"), "Ziua", 29 November 2006]

Murat Yusuf, the mufti of Romania's small Islamic community opposed the decision, saying that Romania was an example of religious tolerance and co-existence, and that such a law was hence unnecessary. He stated that the Muslim community have lived for "more than eight centuries in these lands" and "the existence of other religious symbols in public institutions never bothered us and does not bother us now."

Speaking on behalf of the even smaller Jewish community, Aurel Vainer, who represents the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania in Parliament, noted that "the Romanian people is in large part a Christian people" and characterised the debate as one that "serves no purpose in our country." He described the presence of icons as "a right won by Romania's Christians" and saw no hindrance to their continued display in schools.

Civic Media petition

On November 22, 2006, an online petition was started by Civic Media, a journalism NGO, with the aim of overturning the CNCD decision. [ [http://www.salvati-icoanele.info/2006/11/20/catre-guvernul-romaniei/ Petiţie-scrisoare deschisă pentru păstrarea simbolurilor religioase în şcoli] ] The petition stated that the decision was "anti-European", "anti-religious" and "discriminatory" to Romania's Orthodox majority. It also cited court rulings in Italy and Greece which upheld the right of public schools to display Christian symbols such as crosses. The petition was signed by more than 3,000 people. [ [http://civicmedia.ro/acm/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=41 Semnaţi pentru icoanele din şcoli!] ("Sign for the icons in schools"), Civic Media petition] Civic Media, founded in 2000, has been involved in conservative religious campaigning before, starting a similar petition in 2006 to prevent the construction of a modern shopping centre near St Joseph's Cathedral (Roman Catholic) in Bucharest. [ [http://civicmedia.ro/acm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=37 Despre Civic Media] ("About Civic Media")]

The petition was also supported by roughly 150 organisations, including a number of right-wing nationalist ones, such as the ROST Association, Altermedia, and the Romanian Association for Heritage, which are suspected of having links to neo-fascism and the far right. [ro icon Ionel Dâncu, [http://www.9am.ro/stiri-revista-presei/A/54327/Urmasii-lui-Zelea-Codreanu-iau-cu-asalt-Romania Urmasii lui Zelea Codreanu iau cu asalt Romania] , "Curentul", 6 February 2007] [ro icon Ionut Dulamita, [http://www.cotidianul.ro/index.php?id=9888&art=26229&cHash=81635d41ae Ura da in clocot pe Internet] , "Cotidianul, 27 March 2007] [ro icon Lucian Mîndruţă, [http://www.dilemaveche.ro/index.php?nr=124&cmd=articol&id=1544 Ţara necunoscută. Portret-robot] , "Dilema veche", 9 June 2006] [ro icon [http://romania.indymedia.org/ro/2005/04/772.shtml Iniţiativă pt. o lume fără discriminare] , Indymedia] [ro icon Florin Ciornei, Clarice Dinu, [http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=277943 Crescut de Securitate, hranit de Vintu] , "Evenimentul Zilei", 27 October 2006] Despite this, there were also a number of mainstream high-profile signatures: for example, the petition was signed by the writer Valentin Hossu-Longin, seven members of the Romanian Academy (Dan Berindei, Virgil Cândea, Florin Constantiniu, Augustin Buzura, Mariana Nicolesco, Dinu C. Giurescu, Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici), the president of the National Initiative Party, Cozmin Guşă, and the youth wing of the Christian-Democratic People's Party. Two major teachers unions (the National Education Federation and Spiru Haret Union, with almost 120,000 members) and three major media organisations endorsed the petition (MediaSind Media Union, the Romanian Journalists' Society and The Romanian Union of Professional Journalists).

Civic Media also stated that they will appeal the CNCD's decision in court. [ [http://www.civicmedia.ro/?p=28 Civic Media contestă categoric decizia CNCD anti-religie, inclusiv în instanţă] ("Civic Media categorically contests the CNCD's anti-religious decision, including in court"), Civic Media, 22 November 2006] On June 11, 2008, the High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled that the presence of icons in schools is legal, in effect overturning the CNCD's decision. [""ro icon [http://www.mediafax.ro/social/icoanele-raman-in-scoli-prezenta-lor-este-legala.html?1688;2705772 "Icoanele rămân în şcoli, prezenţa lor este legală"] , Mediafax, 12 June 2008]

ee also

*Religious education in Romania
*"McCollum v. Board of Education"
*French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools

Notes

External links

*ro icon [http://www.cncd.org.ro/index.php?level1=home&lb=0 A press release from the CNCD outlining the decision]
*ro icon [http://salvati-icoanele.info "Salvaţi icoanele copiilor", a website campaigning for the maintenance of religious symbols in schools]
* [http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_061212rom.shtml Dispute over public religious symbols in Romania] , Ekklesia News