{"id":108037,"date":"2020-01-16T09:37:14","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T08:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=108037"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:38","slug":"the-best-prior-education-for-becoming-a-judge-is-working-in-a-supermarket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/01\/16\/the-best-prior-education-for-becoming-a-judge-is-working-in-a-supermarket\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The best prior education for becoming a judge is working in a supermarket\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

When writing his dissertation, The Constitutional Dynamics of Religious Manifestations<\/em>, Sohail Wahedi just kept on working at supermarket Dirk van den Broek. According to him, it was perfect preparation for his ambition to become a judge. He obtained his PhD at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

How do you explain what your PhD research is about at family birthdays?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t go to many birthday parties; I find all that nonsense and jibber-jabber just awful. But while doing my PhD research I\u2019ve always kept my job at Dirk van den Broek, as checkout operator. There, customers and colleagues did often ask: \u2018You work somewhere else too don\u2019t you? What do you actually do there?\u2019 I then explained that I have a position at the university and that I\u2019ve received funding to undertake important research into the freedom of people, with or without religion. Is a hijab different from a colander?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother example I often give is to pose the question as to whether the government can force a religious organisation to appoint a female priest as head of a church organisation instead of a male priest. That\u2019s not possible, because this is a question of freedom of association.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then explain that I hope that, when this thesis is complete, judges, policy officers and others who are confronted with religious issues in their work will be better able to make a judgement as to how they should handle this.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did you come across this topic?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to become a judge from a young age. I hope to be appointed as interim judge in the not too distant future. When studying Law I found Criminal Law to be the most interesting, and within this I also find it interesting how you can stay under the radar of law enforcement. There are grounds for waiving punishment, for instance when someone has burned the body of a family member. According to law this is desecration of a human corpse, but if someone appears before the judge and explains that he is doing that because it\u2019s prescribed by his culture or religion, then it can be a different story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fascinated by unusual practices that are justified by appealing to the metaphysical. This fascination took shape in my research into the relationship between law and religion, which includes issues such as circumcision, hijabs, crucifixes, burkas, the SGP, vaccinations and President Trump\u2019s travel ban. As government you ultimately need to take decisions that don\u2019t result in too many raised eyebrows among other citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018I\u2019m fascinated by unusual practices that are justified by appealing to the metaphysical\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Isn\u2019t that impossible?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can never keep everyone happy, and you shouldn\u2019t want to do that either. But the principle of equality needs to be safeguarded as far as possible. From that viewpoint, freedom of religion is a problematic law. That\u2019s because only part of society is religious. I often consider the statement \u2018God is unique, so we need to have freedom of religion\u2019 as a sectarian undermining of the liberal constitutional state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that you should restrict believers en masse from exercising their religion, as is the case in Myanmar, China or India. But in principle, within the triangle of freedom of knowledge, freedom of association and freedom of expression, you should be able to achieve the same result, without the raised eyebrows that you have now when you protect religion, purely because it is a religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cA mosque where a woman can\u2019t be a leader doesn\u2019t differ much from, for instance, the Rotterdam Students Corps where, until the merger, no women were welcome. You can think what you like about this, but both are associations in which you, according to the liberal principle, can choose your own friends. And I think that\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was that the most important conclusion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. There\u2019s no single reason to make an exception of religion; to give religion special protection or a special approach. But in a practical sense, as liberal constitution, you cannot really abolish freedom of religion, because you then have a disadvantage in your negotiating position compared with countries that play fast and loose with the rights of minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

In your final statement of your defence you write that, for PhD students, it would be good to work as checkout operators at the local supermarket. Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cScientists need to mix structurally in society. The best prior education to become a judge is to work in a supermarket. You need to be able to explain things in layman\u2019s terms. It really improves your communication skills. A there was an entire delegation of Dirk staff at my defence, as well as customers: Thea and Gert-Jan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done a lot of fantastic things in my life, such as an internship at the Dutch embassy in Tel Aviv, an internship at the Gerard Sprong office in Amsterdam, and I\u2019ve been an external clerk of the court at the Rotterdam court. If I wasn\u2019t abroad, I always combined this with my work at the Dirk. I hope that I\u2019ll be able to continue to work there for as long as possible, although I\u2019ll not be able to combine that with working as a judge. It wouldn\u2019t be right if I came across a suspect while scanning a packet of butter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did you select this cover?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smiling: \u201cIt\u2019s a great match for my boring character!\u201d More seriously: \u201cIt is symbolic. It almost looks like a State Bible, with the linen cover and golden letters. It\u2019s actually a tribute to my diligent work. My articles deserve business class treatment. All six have been published, and I\u2019m incredibly proud of that. Four in American Law Reviews<\/em>, and it\u2019s not easy getting published in that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t