CHAPTER 3 Natan Lerner, Defining the Nature and Minimum Standards of Freedom of Religion or Belief
Natan Lerner's chapter offers a comprehensive overview of The Nature and Minimum Standards of Freedom of Religion or Belief in international law. He traces the evolution of this freedom in the array of international instruments that have been adopted, from the Universal Declaration in 1948 to the end of the twentieth century. One of the three aspects of freedom of religion or belief encapsulated in article 18 of the Universal Declaration (the forum internum , conversion and proselytizing and the forum externum ), Lerner forcuses most of his attention on the latter, for the obvious reason that manifestations of religion are most likely to face limitations in practice. The ICCPR is highlighted as the only binding treaty applicable worldwide that specifically and coherently protects religious rights. For this reason, Lerner devotes particular attention to article 18 and emphasizes the need to pay close attention to the UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment 22, which interprets this key provision on freedom of religion or belief. He also provides a valuable analysis of the 1981 Declaration, which he describes as being ambitious in its achievement, imprecise in a number of respects, but "reasonably good" in its text, and amounting to "a very positive step" overall. The balance of the chapter surveys regional and other international documents bearing on freedom of religion or belief. As a practical matter, Lerner's chapter is particularly uselful in providing an overview of the proliferating set of documents that codify international religious freedom norms. Depsite the seeming abundance of international instruments, Lerner contends that there is still a strong need to better protect religious groups from discrimination, persecution, and other violations of freedom of religion or belief.
