The first of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Seminars was held 20 April 2012 in the Old Common Room of Balliol College, Oxford, UK. The event was co-sponsored by the Oxford Society for Law and Religion; FORBFocus; the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS, Milan); Brunel Law and Religion Research Group; Centre for the Study of Religion in Public Life, Kellogg College, Oxford; Religion, Law and International Relations Program, Regents Park College, Oxford; the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University, United States; and the Strasbourg Consortium.
The event was held in conjunction with the launch of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, which had taken place the previous day at a Colloquium held at Regent's Park College. Participants in the Seminar, which convened under the direction of Managing Editor Peter Petkoff, included Editors and members of the Advisory Board of the Journal.
Editor-in-Chief Malcolm Evans (University of Bristol) moderated Session I, "Adjudicating Human Rights Diversely: Church Autonomy and Religious Symbols at the Intersection of Religious and Public Spheres," which included papers by board members Brett G. Scharffs (Brigham Young University, USA), Carolyn Evans (Dean of the Law School, University of Melbourne, Australia), and Christopher McCrudden (Queen Mary, Belfast, and Oxford, UK).
Session II, "New Case Law on Religious Autonomy: A Discussion," was moderated by Roger Trigg (Centre for the Study of Religion in Public Life, Kellogg College, Oxford) and included papers by Angela Wu Howard (Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, USA), Ingvill Plesner (University of Oslo, Norway), and Editor-in-Chief W. Cole Durham, Jr. (Brigham Young University, USA).
Moderating Session III, "General Developments," was OJLR Advisory Board member Nazila Ghanea (Oxford University), with papers by Johan van der Vyver (Emory University School of Law, USA) and Michael Weiner (Human Rights Officer, UN Office of the Commissioner of Human Rights), as well as Board member Renata Uitz (Legal Studies Department, Central European University, Hungary). Also invited but unable to attend were Grégor Puppinck (Executive Director, European Centre for Law and Justice), Paul Babie (University of Adelaide, Australia), and James Krumery-Quinn (Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide, Australia).