ICON S Conference 17 – 19 June 2016 Humboldt University Berlin

offer an expansive protection of religious rights. Given
the similarities between the practices and the liberal
commitment to equality under the law, it would seem
unlikely to find differences between the legal regulation
of Jewish and Muslim practices. The paper will
suggest, quite to the contrary, that the practices are, in
fact, treated differently. Furthermore, I will suggest that
the regulation of these practices is best understood not
as a two way relationship between the secular state
and a religious minority, but a three-way relationship
between the (post-Christian) state, its Jewish, and
Muslim members.
Kai Möller: What’s Wrong About Ritual Male
Circumcision?
A recent judgment by a lower court in Germany
brought the problem of ritual male circumcision to the
consciousness of the wider public. My presentation
argues that ritual male circumcision is not covered by
parental authority. It first considers the best interest
test of parental authority and argues that this test fails
to take the boy’s human rights sufficiently seriously.
Instead, I propose the autonomy conception of parental
authority, according to which parental authority
must be exercised such as to ensure that the child
will become an autonomous adult. While parents may
raise their child in line with their religious convictions,
respect for his autonomy requires that this be done
in a way that allows the child to later distance himself
from these values, this implies that irreversible physical
changes are impermissible. Thus, ritual male circumcision
is wrong because it usurps the child’s right
and responsibility to become the author of his own life.
Abhayraj Naik and Rachel Priyanka Chenchiah:
Law, Violence and the Animal
In this paper, we attempt to map out the complex,
paradoxical relationship between law and violence in
and through the figure of the animal. We anchor our
musings in the terrain of the legal archive in India – a
multicultural, federal, pluralistic, and democratic polity
where a number of religions, traditions, and cultures
articulate competing and conflicting conceptualizations
of the human-animal relationship – and thus
imagine and engage with the limits and possibilities
of a truly post-colonial and post-human justice. Our
enquiry addresses both the systemic violence that
the body of the animal encounters in the contemporary
socio-economic order, and the epistemological
and ontological violence uncovered and/or generated
through a philosophical engagement with the notion
of the animal vis-à-vis the human.
54 CONSTITUTIONALISM FOR PEACE
IN COLOMBIA I – LEGAL AND
POLITICAL CHALLENGES
The Colombian armed conflict has conditions that
make it unique which generates a set of new and distinct
challenges faced in other transition processes
crossed by other states. Specifically, there is a need
to think about the answers that can be offered to the
legal system in order to consolidate the success of a
process of transition from armed conflict to peace. In
response to these challenges, we present this panel
related to the topic “Constitutionalism for peace in
Colombia”, which focuses on the legal and political
aspects of transitional constitutionalism. The panel
reflects a transition process that takes place under
the rule of law but with some unusual features. It will
cover the transformation of constitutionalism in order
to ensure that legal and political institutions are
tailored to the needs involved in ending the armed
conflict. Ultimately, this panel will be about the way
in which constitutionalism is adapted to achieve the
overall goals of a political transition.
Participants Gonzalo Andrés Ramírez-Cleves
Paola Andrea Acosta Alvarado
Diego González-Medina
Alexandra Castro Franco
Name of Chair David E. Landau
Room DOR24 1.601
Gonzalo Andrés Ramírez-Cleves: Constitutional
amendments and the peace process in Colombia
The paper will discuss the constitutional judgments
that have been given by the Constitutional Court in the
analysis of so-called “Legal Framework for Peace”. It
also analyzes the “Legislative Act for peace” which
proposes an expedited amendment process to reach
agreements with the partial participation of Congress
and the strengthening of the powers of the President
in order to develop these agreements through statutory
laws. The paper will focus on problems related to
the judicial review of these proposed or completed
constitutional amendments, taking into account that
the Colombian Constitutional Court has developed
the power to declare the unconstitutionality of constitutional
amendments through the substitution of the
constitution doctrine. This review is based on the inherent
principles of the Constitution and those arising
from international human rights treaties, in this case
especially those related with the rights of the victims
to truth, justice, comprehensive reparations.
Concurring panels 91
Paola Andrea Acosta Alvarado: Constitutionalism
for Peace and International Law
International law has become an essential tool for
achieving constitutional objectives, including peace.
However, the close relationship between international