FORB&Conflictprogramme conference
THE OXFORD CENTRE FOR LAW AND RELIGION AT
REGENT’S PARK COLLEGE, OXFORD, IS PLEASED TO BE
HOSTING A TWO-DAY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF (FORB) AND
CONFLICT.
THIS EVENT BRINGS TOGETHER LEADING ACADEMICS,
POLICYMAKERS, AND PRACTITIONERS TO EXPLORE FORB
AND CONFLICT FROM COMPARATIVE AND
INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES.
DISCUSSIONS WILL COVER LEGAL, SOCIAL, POLITICAL,
AND RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS, FOSTERING DIALOGUE
AND COLLABORATION ACROSS SCHOLARSHIP AND
PRACTICE.
15–16 December 2025 at the
Law Faculty, University of Oxford
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF AND CONFLICT
International Conference hosted by the
Centre for Law and Religion, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford,
and the Inter national Consortium for Law and Religion Studies
15-16 December 2025
St Cross Building, Law Faculty, University of Oxford
PROGRAMME
Monday 15 December
8:00AM-9:00AM
Breakfast at the Balliol College main site
for delegates staying at Balliol and Reg ent’s Park College accommodation
9:30AM-10:00AM
Arrival and Registration at the Gulbenkian Lecture Theatre, St Cross Building
10:00AM
Welcome remarks by John Armour (Dean of the Oxford Law Faculty),
Peter Petkoff (Centre for Law and Religion) and Elizabeth Clark
(International Consortium of Law and Religion Studies)
10:10AM-11:00AM
Religious Freedom and Conflict – the View from Strasbourg
Chair : Renata Uitz (Royal Holloway)
Judges Ar men Harytyunian(ECtHR) and Yannis Ktistakis (ECtHR)
11:00–11:15
Coffee Break
11:15-12:00
The View from the International Organisations (Hybrid)
Chair : Javier Oliva (Manchester and Oxford)
T hiag o Alves Pinto (Oxford) and Ahmed Shaheed (Essex)
in conversation with Nazila Ghanea (Oxford), Susan Ker r (OSCE),
Javaid Rehman (Brunel), and Michael Wiener (UN and Oxford)
12:00PM–1:00PM
Religious Diplomacy, Soft Power and Conflict –
The Geopolitical Dimension and Foreign Policy Spaces
Chair: Peter Petkoff (Oxford)
Aetios Nikoforos (Ecumenical Patriarchate), Elizabeth Prodromou (Boston
College) (online), Alistair Redfern (House of Lords), Kristina Stoeckl (LLUISS)
1:00PM-2:00PM
Lunch at the St Cross Building
2:00PM-3:00PM
The Cube, St Cross Building
Religious Freedom and Boots on the Ground –
Seeing Religious Freedom through the Perspective of the Military
Chair: Nikos Maghioros (Thessaloniki)
Daniel Cloney (Oxford), Har riet Hoff ler (Oxford), Andrew Methven (AMAR)
3:00PM-4:00PM
Religious Freedom in the Context of Post-Conflict Transition
Chair: Ahmed Shaheed
Paris Asanakis (Imvrian Association), Habib Malik (Charles Malik Institute),
Andrea Pin (Padova), Yuri Stoyanov (SOAS)
4:00PM-4:15PM
Tea Break
4:15PM–5:30PM
Round Table: Unceasing and Unresolved –
Religious Freedom in the Context of Perpetual Conflicts
Roy Allison (Oxford), Jose ph David (Sapir), Leonard Hammer (Arizona), Anthony
O’Mahony (Oxford), Victoria Schofield (Oxford), Ahmed Shaheed (Essex)
6:00PM-7:00PM
Welcome Drinks Reception
Gladstone Room, Oxford Union Society, Frewin Court
7:00PM-8:00PM
Dinner (by invitation)
Macmillan Restaurant, Oxford Union Society
8:00PM-9:00PM
Key address
Religious Freedom and Torture
Malcolm Evans (Oxford)
Oxford Union Society Debating Chamber
Tuesday 16 December
Gulbenkian Lecture Theatre, St Cross Building
9:00AM–11:00AM
European Responses to the Russian Orthodox Church’s Involvement in the
Russia-Ukraine War: The Religious Freedom and National Security Nexus
Chair : Roy Allison (Oxford)
Robert C. Blitt (Tennessee), Merilin Kiviorg, (Tartu), Dmytro Vovk (Cardozo)
11:00AM–11:15AM
Coffee
11:15AM-1:00PM
Interdependence of Regional Dynamics –
Russia, Ukraine, Balkans, Middle East, Iran and South Asia
Chair: Francis Davies (Birmingham)
Dimitar Bechev (Oxford), Dobromir Dimitrov (Veliko Trnovo), Nikos Maghioros
(Thessaloniki), Peter Petkoff (Oxford), Ahmed Shaheed (Essex)
1:00PM-2:00PM
Lunch
2:00PM-3:00PM
Freedom of Religion or Belief, Conflict
and International and Supranational Courts and Justice
Chair: Malcolm Evans (Oxford)
Freya Baetens (Oxford), Illia Chernohorenko (Oxford), Christina Murray (Cape
Town), Renata Uitz (Royal Holloway)
3:00PM-4:00PM
Religious Actors as Agents for Change in
International Law and Foreign Policy
Chair: Anthony O’Mahony (Oxford)
Elizabeth Clark (BYU), Francis Davies (Birmingham), Effie Fokas (American
College of Greece), Knox Thames (Pepperdine)
4:00PM-4:15PM
Tea
4:15PM-5:15PM
Religious Freedom and the
Reshaping of the Boundaries of International Law
Chair: Wim Decock (Louvain)
Elizabeth Cassidy (OSCE ODHIR Advisory Board), Peter Petkoff (Oxford)
5:15PM-5:45PM
Concluding Session