Notice and Agenda of the Meeting
of the General Assembly of the
African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies
May 21, 2019
A meeting of the General Assembly of members of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (“ACLARS”) will be convened at or shortly after 16h30 on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, or as soon thereafter as reasonably possible, in the Okavango suite at the Grand Palm Hotel, Bonnington Farm Molepolole Road, Gaborone, Botswana. This meeting will be held at the conclusion of the annual ACLARS Conference held... more
Following the success of conferences in Ghana (2013), South Africa (2014), Namibia (2015), Ethiopia (2016), Morocco (2017) and Nigeria (2018), the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies will be convening its Seventh Annual Law and Religion Conference in Gaborone, Botswana from 19 to 21 May 2019 in collaboration with the Department of Theology & Religious Studies, the Department of Law at the University of Botswana, and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of the Brigham Young University Law School, USA.
The subject of the conference will be Law, Religion, and Environment in Africa. Intending participants are encouraged to submit abstracts which address any aspect of the theme, drawing on their field of study, professional expertise, and national, regional, or comparative experience. Themes for the conference include, but are not limited to:
- Freedom of Religion or Belief, Human Rights, and the Environment
- Religion and International Law on the Environment in Africa since the 1992 Kyoto Protocol, the 2015 Paris Climate Accord and in relation to the 2030 UN Agenda
- Religion and the Governance of Sacred Sites, Biosphere Reserves and Heritage Sites
The 2018 ACLARS Conference—Law, Religion, and Human Flourishing—was held 20-22 May 2018 at Baze University in Abuja, Nigeria. Participants gathered to explore their shared interest in the relationship of law and religion to the advancement of human flourishing. The conference was co-sponsored by ACLARS (the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies), ICLARS (the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, Milan, Italy), WARCLARS (the West African Regional Center for Law and Religion Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Nigeria), and ICLRS (the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, United States).
The Fifth Annual Conference of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies — Religion, Law, and Security in Africa — took place in Rabat, Morocco, from 14 to 17 May 2017. Following the success of conferences in Ghana (2013), South Africa (2014), Namibia (2015) and Ethiopia (2016), this event was a collaboration of ACLARS with the International University of Rabat; the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) of Brigham Young University Law School, United States; and the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS), Milan, Italy.... more
More than 60 scholars, legal professionals, and religious leaders from Africa and many other parts of the world joined in the Fourth Conference on Law and Religion in Africa, sponsored by the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS) and held Sunday, 22 May to Tuesday, 24 May, 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A workshop for early career scholars was held immediately prior to the conference on May 22. The theme of the conference, which was hosted by College of Law and Good Governance Studies of Addis Ababa University and held at the Capital Hotel, was "Religious Pluralism, Heritage, and Social Development in Africa".
Awol Wagris, Ethiopia State Minister of Federal and Pastoralist Affairs, delivered the opening speech of the conference: "Looking ahead," he said, "the greatest challenges our country faces with regard to the protection of religious freedom and promotion of religious pluralism are religious extremism, intolerance, and violent conflict." He added that addressing this challenge effectively requires the promotion of mutual understanding, respect, cooperation among governmental bodies, various religious communities, and the section of society that professes to be non-religious. [See AAU hosts African Conference on Law and Religion.]
The Third Conference on Law and Religion in Africa took place in Windhoek, Namibia, May 18-19, 2015. This memorable and very successful conference focused on the theme "Religious Freedom and Religious Pluralism in Africa: Prospects and Limitations." Some sixty participants participated in the conference, from 17 countries: UK, US, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Namibia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, Botswana, Uganda, Belgium.
Participants discussed such topics as:
- African traditional law / religion
- Human rights and dignity (including rights of
The Second Conference on Law and Religion in Africa took place in Stellenbosch, South Africa 26-28- May 2014. The theme of the Confere was Law and Religion in Africa 2014: The Quest for the Common Good in Pluralistic Societies. Keynote speakers were South African Constitutional Court Emeritus Justice Albie Sachs and Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. The conference was sponsored by Stellenbosch University, the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Theology (Unit for the Study of Law and Religion, Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology); the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, United States; the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS, Milan); Catholic University of Leuven; and Juta & Company (Publishers and Booksellers). As a major event of the conference, the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS) was officially launched, with Prof dr Pieter Coertzen as President.
The conference "Law and Religion in Africa: Comparative Practices, Experiences, and Prospects" was held 14-15 January 2013 at the University of Ghana in Legon, Ghana.
Scholars, legal professionals, and religious leaders from Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierre Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, the United Kindgom, and the United States gathered in Legon for the two-day event.
The event was sponsored by the Unit for the Study of Law and Religion in the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa; the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University, United States; and the ... more