Limitations of Freedom of Religion or Belief: International Law Perspectives
![handle is hein.journals/emint19 and id is 513 raw text is: LIMITATIONS OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF:
INTERNATIONAL LAW PERSPECTIVES
Johan D. van der Vyver*
Several international instruments for the promotion and protection of
human rights proclaim rights and freedoms pertinent to religion or belief. This
Article deals only with those that apply globally and, therefore, excludes the
regional human rights instruments. The emphasis is on limitations that may
legitimately be imposed to restrict the abuse of those rights and freedoms or as
a means of coping with a state of emergency in any given society.
International concerns pertinent to religion or belief manifest themselves in
three distinct areas: freedom to entertain and to manifest a particular religion or
belief; religious rights of a child; and the right to self-determination of
religious communities. Attention will also be given in this Article to the
enforcement of international norms relating to religion or belief.
A. FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
1. General Directives of Freedom of Religion or Belief
The standard-setting norm regulating freedom of religion or belief is found
in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948
(Universal Declaration),' which provides:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief,
and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public
B.Com., LL.B., Honns. B.A. (Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education); LL.D.
(University of Pretoria); Dipl. of the Int'l & Comp. L. of Hum. Rts. (Int'l Inst. Hum. Rts., Strasbourg), LL.D.
(honoris causa) (University of Zululand); LL.D. (honoris causa) (Potchefstroom University for Christian
Higher Education). I.T. Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights, Emory University School of
Law; formerly Professor of Law in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and in the
Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, South Africa. Part of the research reflected in this
Article was made possible by a generous grant of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany.
1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217A (Ill), U.N. GAOR, 3d Sess., Supp. No. 13, at
74, U.N. Doc. A/810 (1948) [hereinafter UDHR].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/emint19&div=21&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Limitations of Freedom of Religion or Belief: International Law Perspectives
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