Giving Effect to Freedom of Religion through the Advancement of Religion? A New Zealand Charity Law Perspective

The legal frameworks of the human right to freedom of religion and the charity law doctrine of the advancement of religion sit at opposite ends of the legal scale by virtue, inter alia, of the former being a right that protects against a social injustice and the latter being a discretionary benefit bestowed upon beneficiaries and even that discretionary benefit is governed by stringent charity law principles. Consequently, it may be seen that the discretionary benefits bestowed by the advancement of religion might be at odds to the right to freedom of religion. As a result, this article considers whether the advancement of religion can give effect to the freedom of religion, and if not, whether any such limitations may be justified in a democratic society. Thus, this article explores a number of key legal issues pertaining to religion through the charity law lens from a New Zealand perspective, and in doing so, sheds some light on the relationship between the freedom of religion and the advancement of religion

Freedom of Religion · Human rights · Law and Religion · Political science · Politics · Religious freedom · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies