The UK Supreme Court heard an important case late in 2025 concerning the Human Rights of a child in relation to Christian education at her school. Some responses to this decision said that Christian education, such as RE lessons and assemblies, breached the pupil’s and parents’ Human Rights. On my reading the decision I think this is incorrect.
Jumping to a key subsequent development, the Northern Ireland Department of Education is reviewing religious education and collective worship in schools in light of the Supreme Court decision. And the core RE syllabus is being improved. There is no question of RE or Christian-based assemblies being stopped.
There are lots of nuances in the debate, which social media and major news outlets tend not to engage with.
So, a lengthy quote from the decision to understand what it is NOT about!
- At the outset of this judgment, it is important to emphasise what this case is not about.
- First, this case is not about secularism in the education system. No one is suggesting that religious education should not be provided in schools in Northern Ireland. Rather, JR87 and G strongly support the provision of religious education provided it does not amount to indoctrination. Indeed, parents cannot object to the integration of teaching as to a directly or indirectly religious or philosophical kind in the school curriculum: see Folgerø v Norway (Application No 15472/02) (2007) 46 EHRR 47 (“Folgerø”), at paras 84(g) and 89.
- Secondly, this case is not about whether Christianity should be the main or primary faith that pupils learn about in schools in Northern Ireland. Historically and today, Christianity is the most important religion in Northern Ireland. It is within the Department’s margin of appreciation in planning and setting the curriculum for the greater part of religious education to focus on knowledge of Christianity: see Folgerø at
- Thirdly, this case does not concern indoctrination, evangelism, or proselytizing outside the school environment. Parents are primarily responsible for the education and teaching of their children: see Folgerø at para 84(e). Parents retain in full their right “to enlighten and advise” their children and “to guide them on a path in line with [the parents’] own [religious or] philosophical convictions”: see Lautsi v Italy (Application No 30814/06) (2011) 54 EHRR 3 (“Lautsi”) at para 75. Parents have an undoubted right in their own homes or within their own church or religious environments to guide and encourage their children to believe in and to practise religion in line with the parents’ own religious and philosophical convictions.
- Fourthly, there is no challenge in this case to the margin of appreciation enjoyed by the Department in setting and planning of the curriculum for religious education in Northern Ireland. The Department enjoys a wide margin of appreciation as the function of setting and planning of the curriculum “mainly involves questions of expediency … whose solutions may legitimately vary according to the country and the era”: Folgerø at paras 84(g).
- Fifthly, there is no challenge in this case to collective worship in schools in Northern Ireland being focused on the Christian religion or that in Catholic maintained schools the focus of collective worship may be distinctive of the Catholic denomination: see para 54 below.
I have grandchildren attending school in Northern Ireland. The culture is quite different to the mainland. There are Churches everywhere. A higher proportion of families, and therefore children, regularly attend Church. Northern Ireland has long contributed disproportionately to the overall numbers of British missionaries. Paragraph 12 quoted above is consistent with this observation. The Supreme Court explicitly stated that there is no challenge to the teaching of RE in schools, or Christianity in particular, in Northern Ireland. The local situation means that it is appropriate that Christianity be taught in NI schools, reflecting the majority religion of the province.
The Court also affirmed the over-riding parental responsibility of educating their children.