The proposed project is a multidisciplinary collaboration among Dr Mehmet Demiray (the prospective MC fellow), a post-doctoral researcher in the field of political and legal theory, from Kocaeli University in Turkey; Dr Sorin Baiasu (the team leader), a prominent scholar in the field of Kantian practical philosophy, from Keele University in the UK; and Dr Brian Doherty (the research advisor), a well-established scholar in the field of political sociology, from Keele University.The research will deal with the problematical relations between modern law and religious commitments, as they have been arising in contemporary European societies and Turkey, e.g. the French ban on face-veils, Köln state-court’s decision against boys’ circumcision, the new Turkish law on education envisioning courses on the Koran and the life of Mohammed the prophet in public schools, and Turkish government’s recent proposal of a law banning abortion and caesarean-births.The research objective are to: (1) develop a much needed theoretical framework accounting for the nature of law and its relation to moral commitments in a way that cogently reconciles universalistic orientation (characterizing adherence to human rights) with sensitivity to the fact of pluralism characterizing contemporary world; (2) generate practical suggestions and policy-recommendations by applying this improved framework to the contemporary instances exhibiting intricate forms of tension/conflict between law and religious commitments, with which Europe and Turkey are currently faced.General objectives of the project are to: (1) create long-term research collaboration between Kocaeli University, the researcher’s home university in Turkey, and Keele University in UK, the host university in this project; (2) enable the prospective fellow to master the Kantian philosophical methodology Baiasu has been working up for several years; (3) improve the experience and international research network of the prospective fellow.