Analysis and Evolution of European Case Law on Conscientious Objections in Healthcare: Grimmark v. Sweden and Steen v. Sweden

Abstract

Conscientious objection is a fundamental right recognized in various national and international texts and is generally linked to the religious beliefs of the people who invoke it. In this article, an analysis is made of the content of this fundamental right at the level of comparative and European human right law, as well as a study of how it has evolved over the years in the judgments issued by the European Court of Human Rights. An analysis of the decisions in Grimmark v. Sweden and Steen v. Sweden particularly, allow us to establish a change of trend in the European jurisprudence that shifts from more Europeanist positions to other more national ones, based on the notion of the margin of appreciation.