Humanist Society Scotland seeks review of decision by ministers

HUMANIST Society Scotland (HSS) is to seek a judicial review of a decision by the Scottish Government not to allow young people to opt out of religious observance.

The Humanist Society believes that the parental right to opt out should be extended to young people, as is currently the case in England and Wales

On Monday the HSS submitted papers to the Court of Session in order to challenge Scottish ministers over their refusal to allow young people to opt out of religious observance.

The legal action follows a decision by ministers not to update their guidance to teachers in light of the most recent UN Children’s Rights Committee review which called on the Scottish Government to extend the parental right to opt out of religious observance to young people.

The HSS, after taking legal advice, believes that the Scottish Government may have acted unlawfully by refusing to ensure its guidance remains in line with international human rights law.

In Scotland, all young people require parental permission to withdraw from religious observance, unlike England and Wales where sixth-form pupils (typically aged 16 to 18) have the right to opt out.

The launch of this litigation comes after a report funded by HSS highlighted the increased role of religion in Scottish education, despite increased secularisation of other areas of public life.

HSS chief executive Gordon MacRae commented: ‘Today in Scotland young people are trusted to get married, join the army and vote in elections and for the constitutional future of Scotland.

‘However, Scottish ministers still do not trust them to make their own decisions about attending religious observance or to give young people the same rights as those living in England and Wales.

‘For sometime now, Humanist Society Scotland has been calling on the Scottish Government to update its policy on religious observance. I had hoped that if they would not listen to us then at least they would listen to the United Nations Children’s Rights Committee.

‘We have worked with a number of organisations and individuals over the years to seek to reform religious observance, most notably the Church of Scotland in 2014, with which we issued a joint call for reform.

‘Sadly, our efforts to seek progressive reform of this outdated requirement of Scottish education has failed. The Scottish Government’s policy on religious observance is a mess – a classic political fudge. Our young people deserve better.’