Protecting a Child’s Religious Identity in Adoption, Kafala, and Other Forms of Alternative Care: Analysis From International, EU, and Polish Law Perspectives

 Abstract: 
The right to religious identity, as well as freedom of conscience and belief (religion), are among the fundamental human rights protected in many national legal orders and in supra-state norms. These rights are universally applicable regardless of age; extending to adults and children alike. Undoubtedly, universal law guarantee parents a primary role as educators, including the right to raise and educate a child in accordance with their own religious and philosophical beliefs. However, religiously inclusive upbringing is not the domain of parental upbringing alone, and the right to maintain religious identity is not only enjoyed by children growing up in their natural family environments but is also enjoyed by children in foster parental care in the broadest sense. The right of a child to be raised in the ‘religion of the fathers’ is a right in itself and is protected not only because of the educational rights of the parents; the preservation of religious identity is protected primarily as a personal right of the child himself or herself. Further, a child under alternative care has the right, with the development of maturity, to make his or her own choices and decisions on worldview issues. However, until they reach this state, they have the right to have their religious identity, brought from their generational family, protected in this alternative care. The article presents (in outline) various forms of alternative care in the broadest sense, such as adoption, foster care, and Islamic kafala, indicating how the protection of the religious identity of the child covered by these forms of alternative care is presented from the perspectives of international law, EU law, and national legal orders (essentially, taking the example of Polish law).

Keywords: adoption, foster care, kafala, religious identity, religious upbringing, freedom of religion and conscience, worldview