British courts do not show enough respect to Christians, says one of the country's most senior judges

• Lady Hale, Deputy President of the Supreme Court has called for the law to take a less hardline attitude to the right of Christians to live by their beliefs
• She said they have lost out in the courts to other faiths with stricter codes
• Lady Hale said a new religious settlement should allow Christians to ignore gay rights and wear crosses to work - if they are polite about it

By Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent

Published: 20:35 EDT, 20 March 2014 | Updated: 20:37 EDT, 20 March 2014

Lady Hale, Deputy President of the Supreme Court said the law does not show enough respect for Christian beliefs

The law does not show enough respect for the beliefs of Christians, one of the country’s most senior judges said yesterday.

They have lost out in the courts while other faiths with stricter codes of behaviour, dress and diet have been able to win, said Lady Hale, Deputy President of the Supreme Court.

Lady Hale called for the law to take a new and less hardline attitude to the right of Christians to live by their beliefs when, for example, they want to wear a cross at work, or turn away gay couples from their hotels.

The current discrimination laws that have ruled against the rights of Christians in test cases are not ‘sustainable in the long run’, she argued.

Lady Hale’s analysis, given in a lecture at Yale Law School and published yesterday, suggested a new religious settlement might be based on the idea that the law should show ‘reasonable accommodation’ for religious belief.

This would mean in effect that Christians could ignore gay rights laws or demand to wear crosses at work – as long as they were polite about it.

Failed court cases include that of hoteliers Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who refused to let a room to a gay couple because they only accepted married couples, and that of nurse Shirley Chaplin, who lost her claim to wear a cross on the wards.

Lady Hale herself was among the Supreme Court judges who rejected the arguments of the hotelkeepers, declaring that discrimination against gay people is an ‘affront to their dignity as human beings’.

But she said in her US speech that Christians lose in court because they cannot claim that their faith demands they follow strict rules.

‘It is not difficult to see why the Christians feel that their religious beliefs are not being sufficiently respected,' she said.

‘Other religions with stricter dress codes or dietary laws are demanding concessions which Christians feel that it is harder to claim because they cannot point to equivalent religious requirements.’

She added: ‘The Church of England is a very undemanding Church. It has no dietary laws, no dress codes for men and women, and very little that its members can say is actually required of them by way of observance.’

Citing cases in Europe and Canada, she said there were precedents to allow Christians more room to follow their beliefs.

Lady Hale of the Supreme Court (pictured) said: 'Other religions with stricter dress codes or dietary laws are demanding concessions which Christians feel that it is harder to claim because they cannot point to equivalent religious requirements'

‘Would it not be a great deal simpler if we required the providers of employment, goods and services to make reasonable accommodation for the religious beliefs of others?

'We can get this out of the European Court of Human Rights approach but not out of our anti-discrimination law.

‘I find it hard to believe that the hardline EU law approach to direct discrimination can be sustainable in the long run.’

In her speech she spoke of a Canadian case in which a couple who ran a bed and breakfast house and turned away gay guests lost in court only because of ‘the offensive manner of the cancellation’.

‘This is not an approach which is permitted to us in the United Kingdom,’ she said.

‘But I am not sure how comfortable I would be with the sort of balancing exercise required by the Canadian approach.

‘It is fascinating that a country with an established Church can be less respectful of religious feelings than one without.’

Other senior judges, including appeal judge Lord Justice Laws and family judge Sir James Munby, have said Christians cannot expect special treatment in the courts.

Other high-profile cases involving Christians include registrar Lillian Ladele, who lost her job because she would not conduct civil partnership ceremonies and Relate counsellor Gary McFarlane, dismissed because he would not give sex advice to gay couples.