A General Legal Right to Conscientious Exemption: Beyond Religious Privilege
type: CreativeWork
description: The thesis shows that there is a general legal right to exemption for conscientious objectors in the US, Canada and UK. It shows that it is a limited right: exemptions may be lawfully denied to protect the rights of others or important public interests. The thesis then investigates whether such a legal right is exclusively reserved for religious believers. The thesis shows that it is not: it is available to those that object on the basis of conscience, irrespective of whether their conscience is motivated by religious or non-religious beliefs. The thesis concludes by defending the existence of this general right by appealing to liberal values.
abstract: The thesis shows that there is a general legal right to exemption for conscientious objectors in the US, Canada and UK. It shows that it is a limited right: exemptions may be lawfully denied to protect the rights of others or important public interests. The thesis then investigates whether such a legal right is exclusively reserved for religious believers. The thesis shows that it is not: it is available to those that object on the basis of conscience, irrespective of whether their conscience is motivated by religious or non-religious beliefs. The thesis concludes by defending the existence of this general right by appealing to liberal values.
author: Adenitire, John
language: en
keywords: conscience, religion, human right, discrimination, conscientious objection, conscientious exemption, law
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/3624f3dc-d5ce-4925-813f-dbc47c59b191/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2019-02-06
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:30Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.39265