Critical Review of Resent Cases Raised Before European Court Of Justice and European Court Of Human Rights Regarding the Right to Freedom of Religion within the Doctrine of Margin of Appreciation

Although ECHR and first protocol contains a provision concerning right to freedom of religion and freedom to practicereligion as well right of parents to choose their children’s religious education, permission of derogating from their obligations result in providing margin of appreciation by contracting states in order to interpret and apply mentioned rights. It may not be going too far to say that one does not understand the margin of appreciation unless one obtains a proper appreciation of widespread application of the principle of proportionality. The interaction between the principle of proportionality and margin of appreciation is of significance in securing the right to freedom of religion by contracting states. This article shall examine the status of freedom of religion and its scope in European system. In the light of resent cases, Having defined how European courts will ascertain scope and extent of margin of appreciation, we shall deal with this question ofhow d European courts synthesize a dialectical relationship between the general interest of society and the interests of individuals? It seems that the Court, in many cases, seeks to synthesize the principle of proportionality and establish a fair balance between ensuring the individual rights on the one hand and the society's necessities as well as the intended purpose of state on the other.