The Legal Self-regulation of Religious Groups: Tackling the Challenges of Legal Pluralism in Theory and Practice

Abstract

This paper focuses on the claims for legal self-regulation made by some religious minorities in Western societies. Such claims have often reached the legal system of the state, either through arbitration practices, judicial litigation on religious marital agreements or personal status laws, and they have also stirred public discussion in the political arena. Both circumstances have substantial implications for legal and political theory: whereas the interaction of religious and civil law has sometimes resulted in legal hybridization, the cultural exceptions to the rule of law are a politically sensitive issue. After reviewing several experiences with religious arbitration and the ‘interlegality’ resulting from the cultural transplant of legal norms, it is maintained that the legitimacy of these types of claims can be significantly enhanced by intercultural legal hermeneutics and democratic deliberation. These two approaches presuppose a dialogical evaluation of the principles guiding social relations. Accordingly, two complementary strategies are suggested to tackle the challenges of legal pluralism: an intercultural approach to legal interpretation, and the public deliberation on the normative purpose lying behind the possible granting of legal autonomy to religious groups.