The principle of freedom of religion is so firmly established in Britain that it is “inconceivable that Parliament should ever depart from it,” Prof, Arthur L. Goodhart, noted American jurist, declared here last night in delivering the Robert Waley Gohen Memorial Lecture.
The lecture, delivered under the auspices of the British Council of Christians and Jews, was attended by the Lord Chief Justice, the American and Israel ambassadors, leading personalities of the bench and bar, members of Parliament, scholars and lay religious leaders. The lecture is delivered annually in memory of the late Sir Robert Waley Cohen, Anglo-Jewish industrialist and social worker. Lord Kilmuir, the Lord Chancellor, presided.
The American jurist also declared that no other country had been as successful as Britain in protecting its minorities against the threat of violence. “Every Englishman,” he affirmed, “lawyer and laymen, can take pride in the fact that this country is regarded throughout the world today as the leader in the never-ending war against intolerance.”
Prof. Goodhart said that the major principles of tolerance had been recognized by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although this declaration, he noted, has no juridical character, “it will have considerable influence on the legal systems of the various member nations.”
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