Comparative Law

Each State in Europe has its own national laws which affect religion and these are increasingly the subject of political and academic debate. This book provides a detailed comparative introduction to these laws with particular reference to the States of the European Union. A comparison of national laws reveals profound similarities from which emerge principles of law on religion common to the States of Europe, and the book articulates these. It examines the constitutional postures of States towards religion, religious freedom, and discrimination, and the legal position, autonomy, and ministers of religious organizations. It also examines the protection of doctrine and worship, the property and finances of religion, religion, education and public institutions, and religion marriage and children, as well as the fundamentals of the emergent European Union law on religion. The existence of these principles challenges the standard view in modern scholarship that there is little commonality in the legal postures of European States towards religion. It reveals that the dominant juridical model is that of cooperation between State and religion. The book also analyses national laws in the context of international laws on religion, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights. It proposes that national laws often go further than these in their treatment and protection of religion, and that the principles of religion law common to the States of Europe may themselves represent a blueprint for the development of international norms in this field.

Private persons often stand surety for a business debt incurred by family members, friends, or employers. These suretyships are commonly banking guarantees contracted by means of standard terms. Sometimes the guarantor signs the contract while he/she is not aware of the financial risk related to the guarantee. He or she may not even know what a suretyship is. But in other circumstances the guarantor may be well aware of the risk, but may nonetheless assume it because of strong emotional ties which exist between him/her and the main debtor. How, then, (if at all) does the law address the potential for ‘unfairness’ in such situations? Some systems choose to rely on objective criteria, such as identification of a manifest disproportion between the guaranteed amount and the surety's income and assets, while others are more open to subjective inquiry. The key point is variation. Different jurisdictions in Europe operate different models with different priorities. This book provides a comparative overview of the remedies against unfair obligations of non-professional guarantors available in twenty-two EU Member States, based on a questionnaire which has been completed by an expert in each particular jurisdiction and covering both legal rules and the economic context of different credit markets and banking practices.