Avenue de l'Europe
Hasan and Chaush v. Bulgaria 
| 2000
In 1995 the government deposed the Chief Mufti of Bulgarian Muslims, Fikri Hasan, who had been elected at a national conference. The government registered a rival as leader of the community. Mr Hasan’s staff were evicted from their offices and replaced. Mr Hasan obtained court orders stating that he was the genuine leader, but the government refused to comply with them.
The court ruled that the government had interfered with the internal organisation of the Muslim community, by replacing its elected leader. This had been arbitrary and breached the right to freedom of religion.
A new law in 2002 gave the courts power over the registration of religious groups, ending the government’s control of registering who was in charge. This aimed to avoid government discrimination and interference in religious groups – particularly the choice of leadership.
Three Greek air force officers were members of the Pentecostal Church. They were all convicted for promoting their religion and given suspended prison sentences of over a year. The European court ruled that convicting the men for these conversations with civilians had violated their right to religious freedom. The Greek government took steps to ensure that no such prosecutions happened again.
Ingrid Hoffmann was a Jehovah’s Witness. When she got divorced, a child psychologist advised that she should be given custody of her children, because of their close bond. However, an Austrian court ruled that the father should get custody, because of Ingrid’s religion. The European court ruled that this had been discriminatory – leading to changes to prevent the same thing happening again.
Nadia Eweida worked for British Airways (BA). She wore a small cross around her neck, as a sign of her religious faith. BA suspended Nadia from work without pay because her cross violated its uniform policy. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that this was an unreasonable interference with Nadia’s right to freedom of religion - leading to a change in relevant standards in the UK.
Bulgaria
Greece
Austria
United Kingdom