Overview
- UK justices unanimously allowed the appeal by a Belfast pupil known as JR87 and her father, overturning the Court of Appeal and dismissing the department’s cross-appeal.
- The court found the school’s teaching under the core syllabus amounted to evangelism or proselytising, breaching rights under Article 2 of Protocol 1 read with Article 9 of the ECHR.
- Judges ruled the statutory right to withdraw is an inadequate safeguard because a reasonable apprehension of stigma places an undue burden on families.
- The Department of Education was faulted for failing to inspect or monitor religious education and collective worship for human-rights compliance.
- Political responses were mixed as parties and campaigners called for urgent guidance and a review of the 2007 church‑drafted syllabus, with the court noting RE may continue if taught in an objective, critical, pluralist way.