2020-12-28
3rd Annual Russian Forum: "Law. Religion. State."
On December 17, 2020, the third All-Russian Forum “Law. Religion. State.” was organized by the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Slavic Legal Center and the Russian Association for the Protection of Religious Freedom (RARS).
For the first time, the forum was held in a mixed format: speakers could join the live broadcast, send a previously recorded video report or speak offline in the studio of the Slavic Legal Center. The forum was attended by representatives of government authorities, religious leaders, lawyers, human rights activists, religious scholars and experts in the field of state-confessional relations, as well as listeners of the online broadcast (more than 600 listeners of the online broadcast). Also, after the forum was held, the video broadcast was viewed more than 630 times.
A distinctive feature of the forum, in spite of the mixed format of the event, was the breadth of regional representation of the participants: from the Far East to Kaliningrad. More than 45 speakers made presentations on the day of the online broadcast. Representatives of international human rights organizations also spoke at the forum.
The speakers of the forum touched upon various topics including: new legislative initiatives in the field of regulating the activities of religious organizations, international legal standards of freedom of religion, issues of theory and practice, modern trends in the field of countering religious xenophobia, national security and freedom of conscience and compliance with legislation on the exercise of freedom religion in Russia.
Despite the difference in approaches to assessing the current situation in the field of freedom of conscience and religion in Russia, experts are confident in the need to strengthen the interaction of civil society institutions with the state. The speakers also drew attention to positive trends, which are happening due to the active participation of representatives of government bodies in such important dialogues, their interest and support for the forum and initiatives.
Representatives of government bodies, religious figures, well-known human rights activists and scientists warmly greeted the speakers and guests of the forum.
Based on the results of the forum, it is planned to develop joint legal recommendations and proposals from representatives of the expert and religious communities to government bodies.
Source: prgforum.ru
