{"id":37902,"date":"2026-11-03T15:10:06","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/principle-equality-test-religion-carep-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T15:10:06","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:10:06","slug":"principle-equality-test-religion-carep-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/en\/principle-equality-test-religion-carep-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Principle of Equality Put to the Test of Religion: Legal and Political Configurations in Comparative Contexts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Thursday 26 November 2026, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Paris<\/strong><\/a> (CAREP Paris), in partnership with Universit\u00e9 C\u00f4te d’Azur and the University of Tunis El Manar, is holding a study day on the principle of equality in the face of religious norms. It takes place on its premises in Paris and can also be followed online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The principle of equality is today one of the major normative foundations of contemporary states, both in constitutional orders and in international human rights commitments. Yet its practical implementation comes up against deeply differentiated legal and political configurations, particularly where it intersects with the place granted to religion in institutional systems. In several national contexts, whether France, Switzerland or Monaco, often associated with forms of legal secularisation, or Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon, where religious references remain more explicitly built into normative architectures, the principle of equality is subject to plural regimes of interpretation. These variations are especially visible in sensitive areas such as personal status, inheritance rules and the terms on which religious groups are recognised. These configurations cannot be reduced to a binary opposition between “secular” and “religious” states: they call for a rethinking of the analytical categories in use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From this perspective, the study day sets out to explore, through a comparative approach, the tensions, adjustments and reconfigurations that affect the principle of equality when it meets religious normativities. It will examine the legal arrangements, institutional practices and social mobilisations that help redraw the boundaries between equality, pluralism and the recognition of religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning panel, “State Models of Religion and the Principle of Equality”, is chaired by Valentine Zuber (\u00c9cole Pratique des Hautes \u00c9tudes). Christian Vallar (Universit\u00e9 C\u00f4te d’Azur) will discuss the constitutional foundations of la\u00efcit\u00e9 and of the principle of equality in France, Leyla Abdullayeva, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to France, the Azerbaijani example, Asma Nouira (CAREP Paris) the place of religion in Tunisia’s constitutions since independence, and Sarah Ghayad, a doctoral student at Universit\u00e9 C\u00f4te d’Azur, the Lebanese confessional model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the afternoon, Zohra Aziad\u00e9 Zemirli<\/strong><\/a>, a legal researcher associated with CAREP, chairs the panel “Between Religious Norms and the Principle of Equality: The Law Facing Its Contradictions”, devoted to the Tunisian case. Five scholars from the University of Tunis El Manar will speak: Souhaima Ben Achour on Tunisian private international family law, Amel Bouhjar on inheritance rules, Olfa Attia on the divorce regime, Imen Abdelhak on the rights of religious minorities and Raya Choubani on tax equality. Pluriel<\/em> has presented the collective volume she co-edited, Equality, Plurality and Personal Status Laws: A Research Companion<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Routledge, 2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n