LU3131 Law of the European Convention of Human Rights Assessment Brief 2026

LU3131 Law of the ECHR Assessment Brief

YOU MUST NOT PUT YOUR NAME OR STUDENT ID ANYWHERE IN THE BODY OF THE FILE OR TITLE OR YOU MAY INVALIDATE THIS ASSESSMENT

Instructions

• Please answer ONE question from the two questions set.
• Submissions MUST NOT exceed the maximum word limit.
• Footnotes and a bibliography are NOT required for this assessment.
• If footnotes are used to cite sources, they ARE included in the word count.
• Answers MUST be submitted on Moodle BEFORE the submission box closes at the time above
  (unless you have special arrangements authorised by the Exams Office).
• Submissions MUST conform to the CLS LLB/GELLB House Style (on Moodle).
• As this is an assessment by online exam, you are NOT expected to cite your sources in footnotes
  in accordance with OSCOLA or any other formal referencing system.
• However you are expected to indicate in the main body of the text to which sources you are referring
  or paraphrasing (e.g. “As argued by [author] in [book or article title]…”,
  “The case of X v Y established that…”), including the core textbook.
• Furthermore, any verbatim quotes from sources should be in quotation marks (‘…’).
• Failure to follow these instructions may amount to poor academic practice and potentially academic misconduct.

Answer One Question Only

Question 1

Ms A is a secondary school teacher employed at a state school. She is a practising Muslim and wears a headscarf (hijab) as part of her religious observance. The school introduced a revised dress code requiring “strict religious neutrality,” which prohibits all visible religious symbols for teaching staff. Ms A refused to remove her headscarf and was dismissed. Her claim of religious discrimination and unfair dismissal was rejected by the domestic courts, which upheld the school’s policy as justified.

Following her dismissal, Ms A posted a series of comments on her personal Facebook account criticising the school’s policy as discriminatory toward religious minorities; these posts were widely shared. The school complained to the local authority, leading to her prosecution under public order legislation prohibiting “grossly offensive or disorderly expression likely to cause public disruption.” She was convicted and fined. Her appeals to the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal were unsuccessful.

Ms A’s child, who attends the same school, was required to participate in a compulsory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education programme, including Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). The curriculum covers topics such as same-sex relationships, gender identity, and sexual autonomy, and is delivered without any possibility of parental withdrawal from certain modules. Ms A objected on religious grounds, but the school refused to grant any exemption.

At the same time, the school shared details of Ms A’s dismissal with the press, including her religious practices, her divorce, her child’s attendance at the school, and her objections to parts of the PSHE curriculum. These details were published without her consent, attracting unwanted attention.

Ms A received hostile messages on social media and was approached by journalists outside her home and her child’s school. Neighbours became aware of her situation, parents publicly questioned her suitability to teach, and her child faced teasing and exclusion. The publicity caused significant distress to Ms A and her family.

Advise Ms A on whether she can bring an application before the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the above facts, and on the prospects of success of such an application.

Answer

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