Before beginning the review of Freedom of Religion or Belief, I would like to consider the task set before the authors. Since the launch of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there has been a vast expansion of international human rights law. We have a UN Human Rights Council (replacing the UN Commission on Human Rights), a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a UN Human Rights Committee and a growing list of human rights-focused UN ‘special procedures’, to name but a few of the mechanisms in existence. These bodies in turn produce a mountain of resolutions, reports, recommendations, decisions and declarations, all compiling something that we can loosely call an international human rights framework. The authors concede at the outset of this volume that they are dealing with a ‘huge patchwork of hard and soft law’ (p vii), but in my view Jacob Mchangama and Guglielmo Verdirame best describe the current state of affairs, astutely remarking, ‘The aggregate body of human rights law now has all the accessibility of a tax code.’Footnote ³

It is this ‘tax code’ that the authors seek to distill in the form of an international law commentary: the first of its kind on the specific area of freedom of religion or belief (‘FoRB’). Few are better placed to take on this task than Prof Heiner Bielefeldt, former Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Dr Nazila Ghanea, Oxford scholar and shortlisted candidate as Bielefeldt's replacement in 2016, and Dr Michael Wiener, who has been working in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for over a decade. While the authors’ collective UN experience is a clear advantage for the book, the downside is that there is a lack of critical analysis of the UN's own shortcomings in promoting and protecting FoRB, such as its chronic inefficiencies, failed enforcement mechanisms and burgeoning bureaucracy.

Before addressing thematic issues, Freedom of Religion or Belief provides two chapters of introduction: a lengthy chapter on the underlying principles of FoRB and a concise overview of the various human rights mechanisms in which FoRB questions occur at the international and regional level. The book then addresses no fewer than 29 specific topics, broken down into five parts: freedom of religion or belief; discrimination; vulnerable groups; intersection of freedom of religion or belief with other human rights; and cross-cutting issues. Each thematic chapter is designed to be free-standing, making the book easily searchable and an invaluable reference guide. For those previously reliant upon the UN's online library or the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as a first port of call for the UN's more obscure texts, the book's accessibility is by far its greatest asset.

For example, if you were researching the issue of conscientious objection under international human rights law, Freedom of Religion or Belief provides almost fifty pages of commentary to get you started. First, the international standards on this issue are outlined – although, curiously, this is not an exhaustive list, as only one paragraph from a UN committee is included, as ‘general comment’. (Indeed, what does and does not make the list of ‘international standards’ for each thematic chapter appears to be somewhat random.) Second, there is a brief introduction to the topic of conscience. Third comes a historical background from Socrates, to Ghandi, to the travaux préparatoires of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, up to the present day. Fourth, the ‘Mandate practice of UN special procedures and treaty bodies’, a compilation of the work of bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and the various special rapporteurs, is laid out. These bodies have been tasked with interpreting the texts adopted by UN member states, such as the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The section is therefore a compilation of existing UN commentary or interpretation on the area of FoRB, rather than a commentary on every international document on the subject. Accordingly, there is comparatively little in-depth discussion of other UN texts, such as the resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and Security Council, as well as of non-UN mechanisms. In this sense, the book is largely a compilation of the UN's own existing commentary on FoRB, rather than the authors’ commentary on all international texts and mechanisms that touch on FoRB issues. Arguably, therefore, the book's title is a little broader than the content.

Fifth, and perhaps most interestingly for the reader, each thematic chapter concludes with several pages of discussion referred to as ‘issues of interpretation’. Here we do find the authors’ own views on the topic. For example, for the conscientious objection chapter this includes the authors’ very useful five-stage criteria for qualifying conscience claims, a discussion of case law at the European Court of Human Rights, and a collection of contemporary debates regarding conscientious objection in other spheres, such as participation in abortion procedures and various employment-related areas.

The same five-fold chapter structure outlined above is followed for all the thematic chapters, providing a comprehensive reference guide to a multitude of FoRB issues. Despite running to over 700 pages, the book still lacks depth on some of the more complex topics. However, as a reference guide, a first step on any research project and a unique compilation of UN commentary on FoRB issues, the authors have provided a timely and extremely useful resource for the practitioner, student or academic.