All States shall make all efforts to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such discrimination, and to take all appropriate measures to combat intolerance on grounds of religion or belief in this matter.

Introduction

The 1981 U.N. Declaration refers to a need for legislation to prevent discrimination based on religion or belief in the second paragraph of Article 4 and in Article 7. The objective in this paragraph and Article 7 is to emphasize the obligation of States to rescind laws that are discriminatory, or enact laws to redress grievances based on religion or belief. The manual takes the liberty of dividing the two articles into local or community laws and regulations in article 4 and national laws and regulations in article 7.

Objectives

To compile a list of community laws, rules and regulations that need to be enacted or rescinded, and programs in the legal community to be proposed to combat intolerance based on religion or belief.

• Enact and Rescind
• Combat Intolerance

Term 4.2.1: Enact and Rescind

Community laws, rules and regulations often follow national laws in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief. But there is usually wide discretion on what a community can do, for instance, in zoning for places of worship, restrictions on public holidays, rules that protect public safety, order and health, etc. There are instances in which national laws may be contradicted by local laws and regulations that reflect the prevailing culture of the community. Research is needed to see which national laws are written or need to be written that may restrict the manifestation of a religion or belief as permitted in paragraph 1.1.3, or which local laws, rules and regulations need to be enacted or rescinded to protect the nine specific freedoms stated in paragraph 6.1.

Term 4.2.2: Combat Intolerance

Paragraph 4.2: states all appropriate measures should be taken to combat intolerance on grounds of religion or belief. This is not mentioned in Article 7 and the details of the obligation is left vague. 24 Intolerance is not a legal term but might refer to legal administrative practices, perhaps legal education campaigns aimed at the eradication of acts and even attitudes of intolerance. Community legal education is important in its own right and deserves a separate field for categorizing Article 4: Effective Measures in the community.

Related Examples

• Bourne, Texas: In the City of Bourne, Texas, a Roman Catholic church in the center of town wanted to tear down the old structure and build a new church on the same site. The City Council wanted to preserve the old church under a law that declared it to be an historical site to be preserved. The Church sued the City of Bourne, Texas to rescind the ruling, not the historical preservation law itself, that declared it to be a historical site. They claimed that it was an infringement on their right to freedom of religion or belief to worship in a place of their own choosing (see 6.1.1). The dispute went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled in favor of the City of Bourne, Texas. It has cause the U.S. Congress to hold hearings on new laws that may be enacted to preserve the right to tear down the old church and build a new one on the same site, under the rights to establish and maintain a place of worship suitable for these purposes.

Learning Experiences

Refer to your Community Resources List for community government office that may be repositories of local laws, rules and regulations. Compile a list of at least five laws that need to be either enacted or rescinded based on human rights and freedom of religion or belief. Be prepared to write about them in the notes for this study topic. Ask the courts or other juridical offices if there are any community legal education programs that explain how local laws, rules and regulations are made. It may be possible to suggest a community legal education curriculum on human rights and freedom of religion or belief.

TOPIC NOTES

PARAGRAPH 4.2: LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS

All States shall make all efforts to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such discrimination, and to make all appropriate measures to combat intolerance on grounds of religion or belief in this matter.

 Term 4.2.1: Enact and Rescind

Research and compile a list of community laws, rules and regulations that should be either enacted or rescinded. Write and summarize three laws, rules and regulations that should be enacted and three rescinded below.

Term 4.2.2: Combat Intolerance

See if there are legal education programs to combat intolerance based on religion or belief in your community. Write the titles below, or summarize a program you think should be created for your community.

24. Ibid, footnote 22, p. 175 back