Religione e manifestazione del pensiero nel "sistema CEDU": tra conflitti e prospettive di armonizzazione

The paper examines the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the conflicts between freedom of religion and freedom of expression, through the analysis of reciprocal interactions between the contents of the two freedoms in judicial balancing of the judges of Strasbourg. The paper traces the evolution of case law in the approach to offenses against religion, which since 2005 are considered by the European Court, worthy of restriction mainly if dangerous to public order. It can therefore be noted a loss of importance of the protection of religious feelings and religious freedom in the solution of these disputes, and an increasing centrality recognized the need to protect public order and social peace. This transition is evident in the case-law concerning the crimes of religious hatred, in which the religious dimension of the offense is recessive with respect to the content conveyed by the expression of hatred. If such an approach symbolically indicates the actual severity of the manifestations of hatred and intolerance (however justified) in contemporary societies, it also poses a number of problems both in terms of the principle of legality in criminal matters, both in the profile related to the prevention and sanctioning response, that these criminal behaviors require.