(30/4/2023) | The international conference “Freedom of Conscience in A Time of Global (In)security” was held on Thursday (27/4/2023). The conference, which was a collaboration between the Faculty of Law Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) and the Faculty of Law, Airlangga University (FH UNAIR) and the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (FH UI) discussed issues of conscience and how the situation of freedom of conscience and its impact on national security and globally.
The conference was opened with opening remarks from Professor Lyra Jakulevi膷ien臈, Dean of the Faculty of Law School of Mykolas Romeris University. Professor Lyra said this conference was the first international scientific conference on global law and security. Professional Lyra emphasizes the importance of every country complying with international law to overcome various challenging situations.
“One year ago, one country disobeyed international law and caused other countries to experience problems with regional security, food security, and other negative things. Some say this is a failure of international law. However, imagine this world without international law. Problems like what happened last year can be faced if we stand together,” she explained.
After the remarks from Professor Lyra, there were also remarks from Professor Nazila Ghanea as a representative of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as well as a Professor from the University of Oxford; Jan Figel as The First Special Envoy for the Promotion of Religion or Belief outside the European Union (2016 – 2019); and Professor Emeritus Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim as a representative from Emory University of Law.
At the conference, the topic of freedom of conscience was discussed from a literary, historical, religious, philosophical, and legal perspective. The resource persons also analyzed legal regulations and legal cases about freedom of conscience. The resource persons are experts from various fields, such as politics, religion, philosophy, and law representing the countries of Indonesia, Spain, the United States, Jordan, England, Qatar, Poland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and France.
Freedom of conscience itself is one of the foundations of contemporary society. However, recently there has been an increase in the erosion of freedom of conscience through surveillance technology, religious discrimination, and other things.
Airlangga University’s Faculty of Law also sent representatives to this interdisciplinary conference. In the first panel, there was a presentation from Joeni Arianto Koerniawan, S.H., M.A., Ph.D. as an Associate Professor from the Faculty of Law, Airlangga University with a research entitled “Navigating Kite of Legal Pluralism in the Clouds of Fundamentalism: A Challenge in Protecting Freedom of Religions, Belief, and Conscience in a Muslim Majority Country”. Meanwhile, on the second panel, there was a presentation from Iman Prihandono, S.H., M.H., LL.M., Ph.D. and Ekawestri Prajwalita Widiati, S.H., LL.M. with a paper entitled “Freedom of Conscience in the Free Prior Informed Consent Principle: the Approach by Indonesian Constitutional Court”.
