Conscience and association / C3
Public apostasy
The person publicly announces they have left the country's dominant religion, or Islam, and criticises it.
What we score
What can the state do to them?
Default assumptions: Unless a vignette says otherwise, the person is a 30-year-old citizen of sound mind with no criminal record, acting alone, on their own behalf and not for profit, in an ordinary residential area. Where subnational units (states, provinces, cantons, Länder) make their own law, each unit is scored and the result is weighted by population. 'The state' includes police, prosecutors, courts, regulators, tax authorities and anyone acting on their orders, including platforms obeying takedown orders.
Score anchors
Both the law score and the practice score use these anchors. Half points are used when a country sits between two of them.
| Score | What it means for this vignette |
|---|---|
| 10 | Nothing. |
| 8 | Nothing, but the state fails to protect them from threats. |
| 4 | Civil consequences (loss of inheritance, forced divorce). |
| 3 | Administrative penalties. |
| 2 | Crime: fine or under 1 year. |
| 1 | Crime: 1 to 5 years. |
| 0 | Over 5 years, or death penalty. |
Evidence used: Apostasy and blasphemy laws; family-law consequences; prosecutions.
How each country scores
| Country | Law | Practice | Process | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | No US jurisdiction punishes apostasy or blasphemy. Government cannot force anyone to profess belief or disbelief in a religion (Torcaso v. Watkins, 1961), and criticism of religion is protected speech. Apostasy has no family-law consequences, and police protect apostates from threats like anyone else. |
| Czechia | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Czech law has no apostasy or blasphemy offence. The Churches Act § 2(1) guarantees the right to change religion or have none, and § 2(5) bars restricting anyone's rights for being without religion. Criticising religion is protected unless it amounts to group defamation or incitement under §§ 355-356. |
| Switzerland | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Switzerland has no apostasy law, and the Constitution protects the right to change or leave a religion (Art. 15). Criticising a religion is lawful unless it maliciously mocks believers' convictions (Art. 261, monetary penalty) or degrades a religious group's human dignity (Art. 261bis). Announcing you have left a faith and criticising it does not meet either threshold. |
| Denmark | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | The blasphemy offence (former § 140) was repealed in 2017, and there is no apostasy law. Criticising a religion is not covered by § 266 b unless it mocks or degrades believers as a group, and § 110 e(2) covers only improper physical treatment of scripture, not speech. Leaving the church or Islam has no legal consequence. |
| New Zealand | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Blasphemous libel was repealed on 12 March 2019 (Crimes Amendment Act 2019 s5, removing Crimes Act s123). There is no apostasy law, and family law attaches no consequences to religious choice. The Bill of Rights Act protects freedom of religion and belief, including the right not to hold one (s13). |
| Ireland | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Apostasy is lawful, the constitutional blasphemy offence was removed by referendum in 2018, and the Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Act 2019 abolished blasphemy and blasphemous libel. Criticism of religion is not an offence unless it is threatening, abusive or insulting and likely to stir up hatred against believers (1989 Act). No state action against apostates is reported. |
| Netherlands | 10 | 9 | 0 | 9.4 | Apostasy and criticism of religion are not offences; blasphemy (art. 147 Sr) was repealed in 2014, and art. 6 of the Constitution protects freedom of religion. Prominent ex-Muslim critics face private threats, for which the state provides police protection. |
| United Kingdom | 10 | 9 | 0 | 9.4 | Apostasy is legal, and blasphemy was abolished in E&W in 2008 (CJIA 2008 s79) and in Scotland in 2021. Public Order Act 1986 s29J expressly protects criticism and ridicule of religions. Police protection is generally available, though some critics of Islam (e.g. the Batley teacher, 2021) have had to go into hiding. |
| Germany | 9 | 9.5 | 0 | 9.3 | Leaving a religion has no legal consequence. Criticism is free unless it 'insults' a creed in a way capable of disturbing the public peace (§ 166 StGB, up to 3 years), a threshold ordinary criticism does not meet. Prominent ex-Muslim critics face threats, and police protect them. |
| Mexico | 10 | 8.5 | 0 | 9.1 | Mexico has no apostasy or blasphemy offence. Ley de Asociaciones Religiosas art. 2 guarantees the right to adopt any belief or none and not to suffer hostility for it. The state does not penalise leaving a religion. Indigenous community authorities in some areas (e.g. Chiapas, Hidalgo) have expelled religious converts, and state protection is weak; this source was not separately opened. |
| Singapore | 1 | 8 | −0.5 | 4.7 | Leaving a religion is lawful. Criticism that knowingly insults a religion or wounds believers' feelings is an offence under Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act s17F(4), up to 5 years, if it would threaten public peace; religious leaders face the same offence without that threshold (s17F(2)). Measured criticism by an apostate is not prosecuted, but harsh criticism of a religion can lead to police reports and investigation. |