Judges at the European Court of Human Rights will rule today on a landmark case brought by four British Christians.
They claim they have suffered discrimination at work because of their faith.
The four argue the actions of their employers contravened articles nine and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibit religious discrimination and allow "freedom of thought, conscience and religion"
Government lawyers argue their rights are only protected in private
These are landmark cases and we have waited a long time to get to this point.
At stake is not only the future shape of Christian involvement in community life but the protection of important personal freedoms in a diverse society.
– Andrea Minichiello Williams, Director of the Christian Legal Centre
Ruling due on test cases involving practicing Christians
Hospital nurse Shirley Chaplin, from Exeter, who also feels she was prevented from wearing a cross visibly around her neck Credit: Ben Birchall/PA ArchiveGary McFarlane, who claims he was sacked for saying that he might not be comfortable in giving sex therapy to homosexual couples Credit: Barry Batchelor/PA ArchiveRegistrar Lillian Ladele, said she was disciplined for refusing to conduct civil partnership ceremonies for homosexual couples Credit: Johnny Green/PA ArchiveSixty-year-old British Airways employee Nadia Eweida, from London, says she was prevented from wearing a visible cross necklace Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive
Sixty-year-old British Airways employee Nadia Eweida, from London, says she was prevented from wearing a visible cross necklace
Hospital nurse Shirley Chaplin, 57, from Exeter, who also feels she was prevented from wearing a cross visibly around her neck
Gary McFarlane, 51, a Bristol marriage counsellor, who claims he was sacked for saying that he might not be comfortable in giving sex therapy to homosexual couples
Registrar Lillian Ladele, from London, who said she was disciplined by London's Islington Council for refusing to conduct civil partnership ceremonies for homosexual couples
Nadia Eweida says she was prevented from wearing a visible cross necklace Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive
The European Court of Human Rights will give judgment today on cases involving four Christians who say they were discriminated against in the workplace.
Sixty-year-old British Airways employee Nadia Eweida, from London, says she was prevented from wearing a visible cross necklace.
It is hoped that success today will lead to an overhaul of the Equality Act and other diversity legislation.
Europe's Grand Chamber to hear life sentence appeals
In January, Europe's human rights judges ruled that Britain's most dangerous and notorious criminals could be kept behind bars for the rest of their lives.
The judges ruled that condemning people to die in jail was not "grossly disproportionate".
They said that each case London's High Court had "decided that an all-life tariff was required following a fair and detailed consideration".
That ruling will now be tested by the court's Grand Chamber after the appeal of Douglas Vinter, who stabbed his wife to death in 2008, was granted.
Vinter's appeal means the cases of Jeremy Bamber, who killed five family members in August 1985, and Peter Moore, who killed four gay men in 1995, will also be considered.
Bamber received a life sentence for the murders of five family members
Jeremy Bamber was convicted of killing five of his relatives in 1986 Credit: PA
Jeremy Bamber and two other murderers will have their appeal that keeping them behind bars for the rest of their lives is a breach of their human rights heard by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.
Bamber received a life sentence for shooting dead five members of his family in Essex in 1986.
He has always protested his innocence and claims his schizophrenic sister Sheila Caffell shot her parents and her six-year-old twin sons before turning the gun on herself.
Bamber has previously attempted to get his conviction overturned but it has been upheld several times.
Jeremy Bamber to have appeal against life sentence heard in Europe
Killer Jeremy Bamber and two other murderers will have their appeal that keeping them behind bars for the rest of their lives is a breach of their human rights heard by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, judges decided today.
Court changes offer 'increased impunity to rights abusers', warns Amnesty
Tara Lyle, policy adviser at Amnesty International, warned:
These changes might allow Britain greater autonomy in a handful of cases that have gone against it, but they will also offer increased impunity to human rights abusers across Europe.
Ken Clarke is so insistent that Britain should not be obliged to put up with interference from Strasbourg that he is willing to reduce the scrutiny of decisions made in domestic courts across Europe.
