About

CORAL (Copenhagen research unit On Religion And Law) is a cross-faculty collaboration focused on creating new knowledge on and research within the interactions between religion and law. It consists of approximately 25 researchers, primarily from the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Theology.

The aim of the group is threefold: (i) To map and make visible the ongoing research within law and religion at the University of Copenhagen, (ii) to identify crucial research needs in light of current legal challenges and international research trends to encourage research collaborations on these topics, (iii) to explore new and viable research projects, which will contribute to developing law and religion, interdisciplinary and cross-faculty.

The group is especially focused on (a) Freedom of religion and its possible conflicts with other fundamental rights, e.g. freedom of expression; (b) How religion is handled by courts and other state institutions; (c) Religious law and legal infrastructures of religious institutions in the society of today; (d) Legal history and religious history, their interactions and importance for our current society; (e) Developing new theories and methods for understanding interactions between Law and Religion.

We use corals and coral reefs not only as an acronym but also as a metaphor for many of the observations we are making about religion and law. Like coral reefs, both law and religion have structures that run deep in society and culture. While coral reefs appear unchanging, they are very much alive. The same is the case for law and religion. We research living law and living religion, which are vibrant and dynamic phenomena that grow and change over time. Like corals, religion and law are the results of an accumulated history, which is still growing, and which enables and structures the life and practice of today. The coral imagery also highlights the diversity in these interactions and how law and religion are delicately intertwined.