Powrót czarnoksiężnika – uwagi na tle wyroku Wielkiej Izby ETPCz z 18.03.2011 r. w sprawie Lautsi przeciwko Włochom

The text comments on a judgement of the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR in case of Lautsi v. Italy of 18 March 2011. The case concerns the issue of compatibility of displaying a crucifix in an Italian public school classroom with the ECtHR standards. The Grand Chamber found no violation and reversed the previous Chamber’s judgement of 3 November 2009. The reasoning of the Grand Chamber was predominantly based on the doctrine of margin of appreciation. Thus, the text starts with the analysis of the margin of appreciation doctrine and claims that its application was a condition sine qua non to address the issues raised in the Lautsi case properly. Then, the Grand Chamber’s thesis that the crucifix displayed in a public place is a ‘passive symbol’ is challenged. Eventually the Lautsi dispute is framed within the two main social divisions of the contemporary Europe: the religious versus the secular on the one hand and the Christian tradition versus Islamic on the other.