In Australia, the Victoria Court of Appeals yesterday decided Catch the Fire Ministries, Inc. v. Islamic Council of Victoria, (Vic. Ct. App., Dec. 14, 2006), remanding the case for it to be determined by a differently constituted panel of the Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal. The court held that the Tribunal had improperly interpreted a key provision of Victoria's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act when it found that two Christian pastors had illegally vilified Muslims. The charges stemmed from comments made by Pastor Daniel Scott at a seminar on Islam sponsored by Pastor Danny Nalliah's Catch the Fire Ministries, and comments in an online newsletter. (See prior posting.) The pastors had been ordered to correct their statments and issue an apology.
Sec. 8(1) of the Act provides that "A person must not, on the ground of the religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons, engage in conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons." The appeals court held that this section is not focusing on "a causal connection between the religious belief or activity and the conduct engaged in; but rather pertains to the question of whether an audience was incited to hatred of a particular person or class of persons because of the religious belief or activity of such person or class." Perth Now covers the decision.
