Confessional secrecy is inviolable under Catholic canon law, and violations of it are severely sanctioned. Some people see this secret as an obstacle to the legal process in society and advocate a limitation in its use. This article argues that this form of confidentiality also can be defended in civil law because of the protection of spiritual care. Confessional secrecy is analyzed here and compared with forms of official secrecy that are recognized in society. Finally, there is a plea for a clear legal framework for the application of this confessional secret by Catholic priests.

The proposed Act on Citizenship Education requires fundamental reflection from several angles. The article provides a perspective from remarks describing the current age and a possible list of values for a democratic state. Important is also the perspective from educational freedom, on which topic several publications from the Onderwijsraad were issued in December 2019. The proposed Act (with the different versions of its explanation by the Minister) are critically evaluated and confronted with an alternative proposal.

As a special employer, the church has an interest in shaping its own personnel policy in order to achieve the mission and objective. In part, the legislator has met this need. After all, various laws in the field of appointment, terms of employment and dismissal take account of the specific interests of the church as described before. The external border consists of fundamental human rights that are included in the ECHR and the European Directive on equal treatment. It is not always clear where the external border is exactly. The Dutch legislation regarding the battle of ‘church law’ and fundamental rights is not consistent. Moreover, there we notice a tension between national law and the European directive.

This contribution discusses two forms in which spiritual care in the Netherlands can be organized: in terms of a (church) office which reflects the current form, or as liberal profession which is a form to be conceivably pursued as an alternative proper to the sociocultural and institutional developments that this text indicates. The historical Dutch context of pillarization is tributary to a form of spiritual care that seems less apt to deal with the challenges ahead. The conditions and requirements of a liberal model are presented, but also put into perspective of the limited opportunities of the professional association of spiritual care to manoeuvre in politics and policies.

Recently there’s a lot of debate within the Netherlands about the criminality of assistance by someone who’s not a doctor towards the death of a loved one. In the Heringa lawsuit a son has helped his (step)mother who wished to no longer live (considered her life to be ‘completed’) to die at an age of 99. The helper non-doctor risks criminal pursuit and punishment. The central argument of the lobby to establish a more humane approach towards the persevered need is personal autonomy. This article aims to clarify the debate and to stimulate another way of thinking towards the situation of, mostly, elderly who want to decide and act independently regarding their death.

The battle over the school system is one of the liveliest chapters in Dutch constitutional history. It resulted, in 1848, in the constitutional acknowledgement of a dual system of education: education provided by public authority (‘public education’) and private education (practically synonymous with confessional education); and, in 1917, in the constitutional guarantee of public funding for the latter on the same footing as the former.
The battle over the school system is usually described as a battle for freedom of private, confessional education from the start. This article shows that prior to this, in the first stage of this battle, the concept of ‘private education’ itself had to be invented and that the concept of ‘public education’ had to develop a different meaning. Public education, the notion used in the Constitutions of 1814 and 1815, originally meant education in schools in contrast to house education. It was this broad concept of education that was entrusted to the care of government and, therefore, not free. This article focuses on the first half of the 19th century. On the basis of original sources it traces the fascinating process of the birth of these new categories, that determine the Dutch education system up to now.

Nowadays the interest in and valuation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is impressive, but when it comes to the effective implementation of CSR in business practices there seems to be a large gap. In order to advance CSR, it is important to know what motivates executives to contribute to CSR. Religiosity may be a motivational driver of CSR. I investigated whether religiosity influences executives’ view of and contribution to CSR. Based on empirical research conducted among 473 executives, I find that traditional religiosity leads to a philanthropic orientation towards CSR and a significant higher contribution to CSR in terms of charity. Otherwise, I find that non-traditional religiosity leads to a financial orientation towards CSR and a significant higher contribution to CSR in terms of diversity.

Within municipalities there is much uncertainty as to whether religious organizations may be subsidized or not. It is often thought that the separation between church and state is at stake. Although legalists have addressed this problem before, a link with the everyday practice is often lacking. The flowchart that is created in this article makes a connection between legal science and practical questions policymakers are confronted with. By ‘pouring’ a subsidy request into the chart, it flows past three questions in a preset order. Based on research into (inter)national laws and jurisprudence, it is concluded that religious activities may be subsidized as long as the principles of neutrality, equality and separation between church and state are respected.

The opinions of the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission (CGB) in religious cases have been followed only partially by the courts. Thus from two judicial rulings on the shaking of hands by Muslims, an interesting difference in approach with the CGB becomes clear. Although it agrees with elements of the reasoning by the CGB, amongst others the Dutch Administrative High Court in contrast with the CGB puts uniformity above diversity with respect to this way of exchanging greetings. However, one can live with this difference in outcome, since in the past the CGB itself took the same approach of uniformity in the subject-matter. As it does today with respect to Christian registrars who refuse to conduct same-sex marriages.