Qua v. His Most Christian Majesty's Government

Qua v. His Most Christian Majesty's Government (1991) was a landmark case before the Archducal Court of Urcea in which it upheld the legal ability of children to obtain baptism in the Catholic Church regardless of the consent of their parents, and additionally ruled that in such cases the underaged minor could apply for religious asylum on the grounds of basic qualifications of Urcean citizenship. The specific case dealt with the family of Chul Lung Qua, a Corummese national living in Urcea on business. During the family's time in Urcea, Qua's daughter Wei Fen became an adherent of Catholicism and was baptized by a priest without the consent of her parents. Following a high profile media circus in which the daughter asked the Government of Urcea for asylum on the grounds of her religious faith and fate she would face in Corumm, the government granted asylum on 18 June 1989. Qua sued the government on the grounds that, even if the baptism was valid, the government should consider the wishes of the family and parents, and that in any event based on the laws of Urcea religious affiliation was not the sole criteria of granting asylum. The Archducal Court ruled unanimously for the government, establishing broad precedent for religious asylum in Urcea. The case opened up additional litigation regarding individuals making insincere baptisms in order to attain asylum in Urcea, including 2011's Mispa v. Ministry of State, which ruled that otherwise valid baptisms determined to be insincere following an investigation by Church authorities would remove the ability of the individual to apply for religious asylum; that case was named for Amal Mispa, a national of Duamacia.