Religious Identity and the Law

The essay reviews the issue of the legal relevance of religious identity, and of its possible scope, from the standpoint of the values that underpin contemporary constitutional States ( equality, liberty, dignity, secularism). The essay will try to show that, in the light of the aforementioned values, religious identity has in fact legal and constitutional relevance. This does not imply, however, that legal claims based on religious identity should receive absolute legal protection - rather, they are bound to be consistently balanced against other constitutionally relevant rights and interests.