Snip of Herald headline reading "Holyrood's religious observance bill could end up in court", infront of image of generic government or church building with pictures of Virgin Mary icon and Jenny Gilruth at top right and bottom left.

We raise alarm on possible legal challenges to unlawful religious observance in Herald exclusive

February 9, 2026

Education

As reported in a Heraldexclusive, we’ve written to education secretary Jenny Gilruth to point out that the Scottish government’s religious observance bill risks court challenge by allowing unlawful Christian preaching in schools.

With the date for a final vote on the Scottish government’s flawed religious observance bill now set on 17 February, we’ve again called out the government’s failure to include an independent right to pupil opt-out.

As reported in a Herald exclusive, we’ve written to the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Jenny Gilruth, about the ramifications of the UK Supreme Court’s recent ruling on JR87 in Northern Ireland. This found that the requirement for collective worship in Northern Ireland schools amounts to “indoctrination” and a breach of the Human Rights Act, even with a parental right to withdraw.

Read our briefing on JR87 and the implications for Scotland

In Scotland, the government still applies the equivalent requirement through compulsory religious observance (RO). What’s more, in our landmark 2025 report Preaching is Not Teaching, we found evidence of precisely the same kind of confessional, faith-based practices in Scottish non-denominational schools as were the subject of the court ruling in Northern Ireland.

Parents also reported the very same barriers to accessing their withdrawal rights as in the Northern Irish case. This includes poor transparency about what will happen in RO assemblies, hostility when parents raise concerns, a lack of meaningful alternatives, and apprehension about withdrawing pupils for fear of stigma and exclusion.

Given that the Supreme Court ruling applies UK wide, we believe there is a serious chance that parents and pupils may pursue cases through the court to win the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion to which all children and young people are entitled under the UNCRC and ECHR.

On the basis of all this, it is baffling that the government is still pushing through with an RO bill that does not give pupils an independent opt-out right, nor address the underlying problems with RO in non-denominational schools.

Read our letter to Jenny Gilruth

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