Myths and misconceptions about the Italy ruling 1. ‘The EHCJ ordered Italy to remove all crucifixes from its schools’ No it didn’t. The court does not have the power to issue direct orders to a sovereign State. The most it can do is determine whether a specific action or circumstance constitutes a human rights violation, and recommend an appropriate remedy. 2. ‘The EHCR is one of the European Union’s institutions.’ No it’s not. This week the European parliament representation felt the need to publicly clarify tis matter. The ECHR based in Strasburg, falls under the aegis of the Council of Europe – of which Malta has been a member since 1964. The EU’s main legal institution is the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which is where the European Commission files cases against EU members states for failing to apply European law to its satisfaction. 3. The court action was brought against Italy by a Muslim. Not at all – the plaintiff was Finnish by nationality and an atheist by religious persuasion. However, an analogous case was brought against an elementary school in L’Abbruzzi in 2003 by naturalised Italian citizen (and founder of the Union of Italian Muslims), Adel Smith. Smith initially won the case, sparking outrage across Italy, only to lose it on appeal. But this week’s ruling is entirely unrelated to this event. What the Court ruled The question before the European Court of Human Rights was whether the hanging of crucifixes in State school classrooms infringed on:
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