The Constitutional Court confirmed an appeal decision in favor of a medical student.
by Massimo Introvigne
On November 15, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador rendered a decision whose grounds were published on December 6 on the internationally debated question of accommodating workers and students who refuse for religious reasons to work or attend classes during the Sabbath. The question affects both Jews and Seventh-day Adventists, as well as other groups.
In the case in Ecuador, the plaintiff was a Seventh-day Adventist who was a first-year medical student in the Oncohematology postgraduate program at the University of Guayaquil. She claimed that, because of her religious beliefs, she practices the “observance” of the Sabbath day, which implies that from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday she dedicates herself to worship and community assistance to her neighbors, to the exclusion of study, work, and other secular activities. She was admitted to the University of Guayaquil as the winner of a national contest and received a scholarship for medical specialization. After she began her studies, she was informed that two subjects would be taught on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. She requested an alternative from the authorities of the University since, as a Seventh-Day Adventist, attending classes at these times was forbidden by her religion.
The University refused to accommodate the student. On September 11, 2018, she sued the University of Guayaquil. On November 6, 2018, the Judicial Unit 1 North for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents, located in Guayaquil, ruled against her stating that freedom of religion or belief does not include a right to have a school or university modify its lesson calendars to accommodate a single student’s religious beliefs.
The Adventist student appealed, and by a decision of a January 10, 2019, and a supplemental ruling of February 1, 2019, the Labor Section of the Provincial Court of Justice of Guayas reversed the first-degree decision. It ordered the University to either reschedule outside of what Adventists regard as Sabbath two courses the student should mandatorily attend, or to offer individual alternatives to the appellant without endangering her overall academic prospects and results.
On February 28, 2019, the University filed a recourse to the Constitutional Court, claiming that the Provincial Court appeal decision had violated the constitutional principles of proportionality and coherence between the legal analysis and the order. It argued that what had been ordered had created an excessive burden for the University to accommodate one single student.
On November 15, 2023, the Constitutional Court found no grounds to intervene based on alleged violations of the Constitution by the appeal judges. Ecuador has thus joined other countries whose courts have ruled that the rights of workers and students belonging to Sabbatarian religious minorities to respect their Sabbath obligations should be protected.
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.
