Contents:

1. Early antecedents

2. From Augsburg to Paris

3. The League of Nations

4.The Polish Minorities Treaty

5.The extension of the minorities system

6. The experience under the League

7. The UN system

8. Article 18 of the ICCPR

9. The 1981 Declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief

10. Religious freedom under the European Convention on Human Rights: the drafting of Article 9 and of Article 2(1) of the First Protocol

11. The application of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights

12. Restrictions upon the scope of Article 9(1)

13. The application of Article 2 of the First Protocol

14. An interim conclusion.

The freedom of religion is one of the oldest and most controversial of the claims that are now recognized as forming part of the corpus of human rights. In this important and fascinating book Malcolm Evans provides a detailed account of the ways in which the freedom of religious belief came to be incorporated into the legislation of the countries of Europe. He goes on to examine the mechanisms by which this freedom is guaranteed, and a number of problematic cases which have recently been discussed in the Council of Europe. In a concluding section he outlines a number of developments which will influence the direction that the search for the protection of religious liberty under international law may take.