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The Mission of the Center: Background and Responsibilities of The Volunteers Websites and News

Learn about the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, an academic center and think tank actively working to secure freedom of religion and belief for all people through a network of gatekeepers, knowledge and expertise, and law reform.

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The Mission of the Center: Background and Responsibilities of The Volunteers Websites and News

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  1. The Mission of the Center: Background and Responsibilities of The Volunteers Websites and News

  2. What is the International Center for Law and Religion Studies? • An academic center, part of BYU Law School • A think tank actively consulting on law reform • An outreach and training organization building relationships and coalitions throughout the world

  3. Our Mission: To help secure the blessings of freedom of religion and belief for all people • Through a network of “gatekeepers” • Through knowledge and expertise • Through law reform

  4. Freedom Through a Network of Gatekeepers Develop and maintain key contacts through international conferences, the websites, the Annual Symposium and joint projects.

  5. Who are the Gatekeepers? • Those in charge of or influential in religion, law and policy • Government officials dealing with church-state law • Religious leaders • Key academics who advise on religion law • NGOs • Judges • Religion reporters and opinion leaders • Human rights lawyers and advocates • International organizations (e.g., UN, OSCE, EU)

  6. Freedom Through Knowledge and Expertise Training and Education • Annual Symposium, now in its 18th year • 20-30 international conferences annually • Courses at BYU and elsewhere • Providing expertise to international organizations and NGOs

  7. Freedom Through Knowledge and Expertise Publications The Center has published several books and numerous articles on law and religion, including works that are among the most essential in the world.

  8. Freedom Through Knowledge and Expertise Websites • www.iclrs.org • www.religlaw.org • www.strasbourgconsortium.org

  9. The International Center for Law and Religion Studies • Informational Content • Annual Symposium • Conferences • Publications • People • News • Areas Needing Enhancement • Projects • Get Involved • Tools • http://www.iclrs.org

  10. Religion and Law Consortium • Primary website for more general research • Unique with respect to country and organization portals • Ability to submit a document • http://www.religlaw.org

  11. Strasbourg Consortium • Has been a primary focus • Major effort to load all cases • Commentary has limited content to date • Overlap with respect to submitting a document and topics • News section is common across all websites • http://www.strasbourgconsortium.org

  12. Freedom Through Law Reform • Consulted on drafting legislative proposals affecting religion in most post-socialist countries and many others in Asia, Africa, and Latin America • Assisted in drafting the Iraq and Thailand constitutions • Testified at a session of the Indonesia Constitutional Court on Indonesia’s blasphemy law • Trained representatives from Nepal in conjunction with Nepal’s constitutional assembly

  13. Submitting News • What kind of news do we want • Publications • Conferences • Legislative and judicial developments • Actions that could portend legislative or judicial action • What kind of news don’t we want • Reports of alleged abuses • “Watch dog” type stories

  14. News Submission Process • Must be logged in as a user • Go to the News section • Suggest News item • Provide requested information • Can do text in text box or as a document and attach • Can include pictures or other files • Summaries rather than “cut and paste” • Two to three sources if at all possible • Watch for trends

  15. Center Faculty and Staff • Director: Cole Durham • Managing Director: Bob Smith (also Regional Advisor for the US and Africa) • Senior Advisors • Gary Doxey, Associate Director, Regional Advisor for Latin America • Scott Isaacson, Executive Director, Regional Advisor for Latin America • David Kirkham, Senior Fellow, Regional Advisor for the European Union • Brett Scharffs, Associate Director, Regional Advisor for Asia and the Pacific • Elizabeth Sewell, Associate Director, Regional Advisor for Central and Eastern Europe • Administrative Support: • Deborah Wright • Key Volunteer Personnel • Marshall Morrise, Technology • Gayla Sorenson, Fellows Network • Donlu Thayer, Website Content • Summer Research Fellows

  16. Relevant Church Employees • Certain Church employees support Center activities—Government Relations • Close coordination with the Center but not directly linked • Office of General Counsel • General Counsel—Lance Wickman • Associate General Counsel, International—Bill Atkin • Area Legal Counsel (International Fellows) • Africa West-Accra (Keith Thompson) • Europe Central/West--Frankfurt (David Colton) • Europe East--Moscow (Bob Lochhead) • Mexico—Mexico City (David Channer) • Caribbean—Santo Domingo (Patrick Thurston) • Brazil—São Paulo (Arlen Woffinden) • Pacific--Auckland (Craig Christensen) • Central America—Guatemala City (Dic Johnson) • South America North/South/West & Chile—Lima (David Armstrong) • Asia/Asia North/Philippines—Hong Kong (David Berrett) • Associate Area Counsel and Legal Assistants • Office of Public Affairs—Mike Otterson • Government Relations Missionaries—Geneva (Hansens), New York (Yosts)

  17. Welcome from Professor Durham

  18. Research Fellows • Roles may include • monitoring specific countries, organizations or courts, • contributing to the publication of specific books, articles or conference papers • accepting ad hoc assignments • Additional roles will emerge as interests and skills unfold • Works in process • Enhancing online submission processes (will take patience) • Developing project assignment and feedback process (will take patience)

  19. Research Fellows • Guidelines • Your work will be very valuable but you DO NOT officially represent the Center • Do not have business cards printed, letterhead created, or otherwise identify yourself as having a position with the Center • Do not ask other organizations or individuals to do anything other than provide publicly available information • As network evolves, we hope there will be occasions where you do represent the Center and interact with others, but the time is not yet • Homework Assignment: • Register as a User on one of the Center’s websites (registering on one registers you on all of them) • Visit the volunteer library (http://www.iclrs.org/volunteerLibrary.php, password ICLRSVolunteer) and do at least two of the readings • Explore the various websites: http://www.religlaw.org, http://iclrs.org/ and http://www.strasbourgconsortium.org/ • Pick a country and begin monitoring religious freedom news from that country

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