Religion in Scots Law: An Audit

In 2014, Humanist Society Scotland commissioned three academics at the University of Glasgow to undertake an audit of the place of religion in Scots law. With a rapidly-changing legal situation regarding many aspects of Scottish life, there was a need to have an authoritative guide to the ways in which religious ideas, rules and influences were to be felt in the legal frameworks governing the lives of everyday people. The result is a compendium of where religious and church influences are to be felt in areas such as Education and Marriage, in the special status of the Church of Scotland, formerly the nation's "Established church", and in areas such as equality and employment law. The Report to be published later this year will provide a comprehensive guide to the ecclesiastical and religious dimensions of Scots law.

The aim has been to create a public resource to better inform debate and understanding of the way in which Scots are affected by religion through the law. It is offered free to download.

In a prelude to the launch of the full Report, the Chapter on Education is previewed here. Looking at everything from the management of schools to the appointment of school chaplains, this provides an outline of the legal principles embedded in Scots law on education, the legislative sources of the law, and how it stands now in 2015.

Contained here are:-

The full Report will be published here in December 2015.

The Project team have been Professor Callum Brown (History, School of Humanities), Professor Jane Mair (School of Law), and Dr. Thomas Green (Researcher).

If you have any queries, please email: callum.brown@glasgow.ac.uk or jane.mair@glasgow.ac.uk