Religious vilification case dismissed

The Australian State of Victoria seems to be unique so far in having laws that forbid religious vilification. Britain however seems to be on the brink of following suit. In 2004 a prosecution of two Christian pastors under the Victorian law held that even quoting the Koran was vilification of Muslims! The idea of Islam as a self-condemning religion is certainly an interesting one but nonetheless seems an extraordinary basis for punishing non-Muslims. That case, however, is still to go to appeal. See here for a full discussion of it. In the meantime, another case under the same laws has been decided which gives some confidence that sanity has not entirely vanished from the Victorian legal system. A “Wiccan” had claimed that the teaching of Christianity vilified him. His case has just been summarily dismissed by the senior judge. Below is an excerpt from a media report of the latest case.

“A senior Victorian judge has called for changes to the state’s contentious religious vilification laws. Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal president Stuart Morris’s comments came as he dismissed as preposterous a lawsuit launched by a convicted sex offender and self-proclaimed witch. Prisoner Robin Fletcher claimed the Salvation Army’s Alpha Christianity course, offered in jails, discriminated against him on the ground of his Wiccan religion. Fletcher is serving a 10-year sentence for drugging, enslaving, sexually assaulting and prostituting two 15-year-old girls.

Justice Morris yesterday summarily dismissed Fletcher’s claims against the Salvation Army, Corrections Victoria and course distributors CMC Australasia, saying they were “nowhere near the mark” of religious vilification. He called for the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act—under which Fletcher filed his claim—to be amended to limit people’s right to launch a lawsuit. “I recommend that consideration be given to the amendment of the Act to require a person seeking to pursue a claim before the tribunal to obtain the leave of the tribunal before the proceeding is initiated,” Mr Morris said. “The question as to whether leave should be given should be decided on the papers.”

A State Government spokeswoman said any recommendation to strengthen the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act would be examined. “Today’s decision by VCAT on the Robin Fletcher matter highlights that the Act is working effectively in distinguishing between genuine and vexatious complaints,” spokeswoman Sofia Dedes said. “The Bracks Government believes the Act has struck the right balance between freedom of speech and vilifying behaviour.” “

Source of the media report is here. The full text of the decision is here (PDF). There is a more extensive examination of the legal implications of the latest decision here

Posted by jonjayray on Thursday, August 4, 2005 at 06:07 AM in Law
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Posted by Geoff Beck on August 04, 2005, 09:15 AM | #

Good Video
http://aeonflux.exctazy.org/brl/misc/welcome_to_sweden.mpg

from http://muslimsout.org/home.htm

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