European Court of Human Rights Reviews Greek Atheists’ Symbol Case

European Court to Rule on Greek Atheists’ Challenge to Religious Symbols

A legal battle over religious symbols in Greek courtrooms has reached the European Court of Human Rights, following a lawsuit filed by Greek atheists. The plaintiffs argue that the presence of Christian symbols during legal proceedings infringes on their rights and biases court decisions.

The controversy erupted after two atheists requested the removal of Christian symbols in courtrooms, asserting that such displays compromised trial impartiality and violated their freedoms of thought, conscience, and religion.

The Greek judiciary denied this request, prompting the atheists to escalate the issue to the European Court of Human Rights. This court’s decision could have significant implications for the display of religious symbols across the 46 countries of the Council of Europe.

ADF International, a legal advocacy organization, has intervened, defending the presence of religious symbols as part of national heritage that does not infringe upon human rights. Adina Portaru, senior counsel at ADF International, stated, “The display of religious symbols in public spaces is in no way incompatible with human rights law. Public spaces should not be stripped of crosses, icons or other symbols with religious, cultural, and historical significance in the name of pluralism.”

Portaru further emphasized that the European Court has consistently upheld that religious symbols tied to a country’s heritage do not breach the freedoms of religion or fair trial rights.

In a submitted legal brief, ADF argued that removing religious symbols under the notion of “state neutrality” could be perceived as antagonistic to Christianity, ignoring Europe’s Christian heritage entirely.

Previously, ADF was involved in a similar case in Italy concerning crucifixes in schools, where the European Court of Human Rights ruled that such symbols do not equate to indoctrination nor affect students’ rights to freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.

Portaru expressed confidence that the court might rule similarly in the ongoing Greek case, noting, “The European Convention on Human Rights robustly protects freedom of religion. Culturally rooted religious symbols or artwork, such as centuries-old Orthodox Christian icons, do not impose a belief on anyone nor direct judicial decision-making.”