Using Religious Symbols in Educational Public Spaces with Emphasis on the Decisions of Italian Courts and European Court of Human Rights

The religious freedom of every citizen finds a limit in the freedom and rights of others which one of them is freedom of religion and conscience. In other words, religious freedom of a person ends where others' freedom of religion and conscience begins. Finding a balance between these two principles for legal systems is not simple, but in multi-ethnic societies and with different religions such as Council of Europe Member States, it is a fundamental thing to guarantee peaceful coexistence between people. One of the issues that in recent years have attracted the attention of the jurists is the question of the presence of religious symbols in public spaces, which has a direct impact on freedom of religious and conscience of citizens. In this article, we will discuss one of the specific aspects of the topic i.e. the question of the presence of the crucifix in public spaces with particular attention to the jurisprudence of the Italian courts and the European Court of Human Rights in the “Lautsi v. Italy” case.