Balancing freedom of religion with anti-discrimination legislation: a comparative study of religiously affiliated law schools

Balancing freedom of religion with anti-discrimination legislation: a comparative study of religiously affiliated law schools

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how freedom of religion rights are balanced with anti-discrimination laws in legal education by first examining selected religiously affiliated law schools, and then questioning why and how faith-based law schools exist in predominately secular Western democracies. Evidently, there are inconsistencies in the raison d’ệtre and operations of religiously affiliated law schools across Australia, Canada, and the United States. There are 47 religiously affiliated law schools in the United States of America, with two in Australia and none in Canada. How the religiously affiliated law schools operate and distinguish themselves differs greatly, despite the fact that all law schools in the three different countries teach the law in a common law system, have similar common core legal subjects, and aim to achieve similar outcomes for students (ie, provide them with the qualifications and skills necessary to eventually practise law). This comparative study will analyse the distinct constitutional and legislative approaches of the different countries examined, all of which have a federal internal governance system in common, and, in addition to utilising a comparative research methodology, a doctrinal research methodology will also be applied to answer the distinct research questions posed. In the end, the research will reveal how existing religiously affiliated law schools reconcile traditions of faith, service, and (for the most part) Christian values within a predominately secular university education system. It will also answer the question of why Canada remains the only country examined in this study that continues to exist without a religiously affiliated law school.