Comparative Religious Accommodation Jurisprudence: Lessons For Botswana

Abstract

This discussion reviews the religious jurisprudence of a few English speaking countries in which the constitutional systems are comparable with that of Botswana and in which the jurisprudence quite often influences the decisions of the courts of Botswana. The comparative analysis focuses on how the courts ruled and reasoned when approached by religious and/cultural minorities seeking accommodation of their dress and other practices which were deemed inconsistent with a school’s uniform code. Lessons are drawn and recommendations are made on how the courts of Botswana should proceed when similar issues reach them for their determination. An argument is made that the courts of Botswana must follow the positive accommodative nature of some of the judgments reviewed herein and reject whatever oppresses minority rights in a liberal democracy.