About
Purpose
This website was established based on the need to ensure Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all as enshrined in article 18 of the United Nations International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (IPCCR) by providing for more information about the national legal frameworks and mechanisms for national lawyers working on FoRB related cases.
While international tools and mechanisms may promote FoRB and address FoRB violations, the national legal, political and social system is the first responder for FoRB violations. Therefore, this website first and foremost contains information about tools that may be used in the national context.
Target groups
This website intends to promote FoRB for all by:
- providing lawyers and human rights organisations who assist victims of FoRB violations of all faiths with information about how to defend their clients within the national system
- providing other legal professionals working on FoRB related issues within the national context with information on how to utilise the law in accordance with the Freedom of Religion or Belief
- providing legal professionals within religious communities of all faiths with information that may help them claim their rights.
This website is intended to be utilised by practicing lawyers engaged in cases related to Freedom of Religion or Belief. For this reason, several of the articles will be adapted to the level of legal knowledge that lawyers normally hold.
At the same time religious communities in many parts of the world needs information on how they may protect oneself against FoRB violations. We therefore hope that some of the texts would be useful for them.
Website setup
This website is divided into sub-areas for each country. The countries have been selected based on assessments by local legal experts on the need for more information about how to work on FoRB related cases as well as the utility of the website in their country.
Each country page should include texts addressing the most pressing challenges for FoRB related cases. If you find that any important FoRB related topic that should be addressed but is missing, we would be happy to hear about that on email: post@defendingforb.org.
The texts on the website are translated into the most common languages used in the different countries. For countries where numerous languages are widely spoken, certain languages have been prioritised based on a needs assessment by local legal professionals.
The website aims to provide information adapted to the needs of lawyers and legal professionals. Because legal source text from laws, judgments etc. feature strongly in many different legal traditions, this website offers a particular functionality that makes source text available without disrupting the flow of the written text.
Contributors
The published texts are all written by local legal experts commissioned to write about relevant challenges for lawyers and legal professionals working on FoRB in their country including practical advice for lawyers on how to assist victims of FoRB violations.
Contact
If you have general questions about this website, please contact us on post@defendingforb.org.