Norman Doe is a Professor of Law and Director of the Centre for Law and Religion at the Law School, Cardiff University, and course director of the LLM in Canon Law there. He studied law at Cardiff, for his doctorate at Cambridge, and theology at Oxford, and is a barrister. His publications include Fundamental Authority in Late Medieval English Law (CUP, 1990), The Legal Framework of the Church of England (OUP, 1996) and Canon Law in the Anglican Communion (OUP, 1998). He has acted as a consultant in canon law to the Anglican Communion, is a founding member of the Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers, and served as President of the European Consortium for Church and State Research (2010). He was a visiting fellow at Trinity College Oxford for a term in 2011 and teaches each year as an associate professor at the University of Paris.
Professor Doe's innovative new book is one of those rare texts which changes the way in which a field of study is understood. It has long been thought that European legal systems differ substantially in how they deal with religion, with the French separation of Church and State contrasted, for instance, with the presence of the established Church in England. However, Law and Religion in Europe demonstrates how the laws affecting religion in European States are actually underpinned by common principles. Doe's book delights in questioning long-held assumptions, debunking conventional understandings and proposing bold new research questions. It is destined to become a classic in the field. Dr Russell Sandberg, Lecturer in Law at Cardiff University and Chair of the Law and Religion Scholars Network (LARSN) This seminal book represents an invaluable resource for anyone seeking an understanding not only of what religion has to say about the world in which we live, but also, and more importantly, about what law says, and how it treats, those disparate religious voices. Paul Babie, Director, The University of Adelaide Research Unit for the Study of Society, Law and Religion