Religious Freedom in Bulgaria and Canada

By: Corrie Evans

For the last year and a half I’ve had the opportunity to work on multiple projects for the Center for Global Justice in my capacity as a student staffer and now law clerk. I recently submitted a brief that I worked on for close to 8 months regarding Bulgarian legislation that impacted churches and minority religions. It may seem minor, but this legislation would have had far reaching effects if legislators in Bulgaria had their way. The brief we authored at the Center focused on the unconstitutionality of the Religious Denominations Act and its attempts to show favoritism to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. This Act attempted to provide the church numerous benefits that no other religion in Bulgaria enjoyed as freely. For example, in order to own property a religious organization was required to register as a legal entity. By comparison, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was granted legal entity status in the Act itself. This is just one provision that was clearly in violation of the Bulgarian Constitution’s provision that all religions must be treated equally in Bulgaria. 

This semester I have the opportunity to work with CLF Canada researching how international courts and legal bodies have approached laws that restrict wearing religious clothing and symbols. This is in relation to Quebec's controversial Bill 21, which bans religious symbols of any kind for certain public workers, including government lawyers. 

I am continually challenged and grown through my work at the Center and am grateful to have the opportunity to work with a group that is so dedicated to promoting justice and the rule of law all over the world.

This post was written by a Center for Global Justice student staff member.  The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.