Chief Justice Emeritus Vincent De Gaetano has been elected a full member of the European Consortium for Church and State Research.

The consortium, set up in 1989, meets formally once a year and unites academics from EU Member States who share an interest in relations between States and religious denominations in Europe from a historical, political and juridical point of view.

For the last three years Dr De Gaetano, a judge in the European Court of Human Rights, served as rapporteur for Malta.

This year’s meeting, in Tallinn, Estonia, discussed religious radicalisation and extremism in the Member States and the scope of State prevention or control of aberrant activity. The meeting was held in parallel with a conference organised by the Estonian Ministry of the Interior and the University of Tartu to mark the Estonian presidency of the European Council, which focused on Church-State relations.

Dr De Gaetano presented a paper on the autonomy of religious associations in light of the case law of the European Convention on Human Rights.