The Right to Religious Freedom in International Law

Between Group Rights and Individual Rights

Anat Scolnicov

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780415481144
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136907050
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: International Law
• Index: Law

This book analyses the right to religious freedom in international law, drawing on an array of national and international cases. Taking a rigorous approach to the right to religious freedom, Anat Scolnicov argues that the interpretation and application of religious freedom must be understood as a conflict between individual and group claims of rights, and that although some states, based on their respective histories, religions, and cultures, protect the group over the individual, only an individualistic approach of international law is a coherent way of protecting religious freedom. Analysing legal structures in a variety of both Western and Non-Western jurisdictions, the book sets out a topography of different constitutional structures of religions within states and evaluates their compliance with international human rights law. The book also considers the position of women's religious freedom vis-à-vis community claims of religious freedom, of children's right to religious freedom and of the rights of dissenters within religious groups.

Table of contents

• Routledge Research in Human Rights Law
• Contents
• Table of abbreviations
• Table of authorities
• Table of Cases
• Table of Statutes
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Existing protection of religious freedom in international law
• 2 Why is there a right to freedom of religion?
• 3 Legal status of religion in the state
• 4 Women and religious freedom
• 5 Children, education and religious freedom
• 6 Religious freedom as a right of free speech
• 7 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index