E/CN. 4/1992/52
page 110
Bolivia
"As already stated, all persons enjoy equal rights. Accordingly, all
inhabitants are entitled to practise their religion freely. Article 3 of the
Political Constitution of the State says in this connection: 'The State
recognizes and supports the Roman Catholic apostolic religion, and guarantees
the public practice of any other faith. Relations with the Catholic Church
shall be governed by concordats between the Bolivian State and the Holy See 1 ."
Botswana
"Freedom of worship (conscience) is guaranteed and protected by the
Constitution to each individual alone or in community with others."
"As indicated above, section 15 of the [Canadian] Charter [of Rights and
Freedoms] protects religious minorities from discrimination on the basis of
religion and section 2(a) guarantees them freedom of religion. A number of
Charter cases have resulted in legal provisions which favoured the majority
religion being declared invalid. For example, in R. v. Big M Drug Mart the
federal Lord Day's Act, which required all persons to observe Sunday, the
Christian day of religious observance, as a day of rest was struck down. And
in Zylberberg v. Sudbury Board of Education, (1988) 52 D.L.R. (4th) 577 the
Ontario Court of Appeal held that a requirement that Ontario public schools
conduct religious exercises at the beginning of the day was unconstitutional,
where the exercises were Christian in nature rather than ecumenical.
However it should also be noted that in some circumstances limitations on
religious minorities are held to be valid, where they are reasonable limits
that are demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society within the
terms of section 1 of the Charter. For example, the courts have indicated
that it is not inconsistent with the guarantee of freedom of religion in the
Charter for blood transfusions to be administered in emergency circumstances
to the children of Jehovah's Witnesses against their parents' wishes.
On the other hand, in Malette v. Shulman (30 March 1990) the Ontario
Court of Appeal held that a doctor who administered blood transfusions to a
competent adult Jehovah's Witness against her wishes, as stated in a card
found on her person when she was unconscious after an accident, was liable for
assault and battery.
Similarly, the protection against discrimination on the basis of religion
found in human rights legislation has been of considerable practical
assistance to members of religious minorities. For example, in Ontario Human
Rights Commission and O'Malley v. Simpsons Sears Ltd. et al.. (1985)
2 S.C.R. 536 the Supreme Court of Canada held that an employer contravened the
Ontario Human Rights Code when it failed to make reasonable accommodation to
the request of an employee not to work on Saturday because it was her day of
religious observance."