ABSTRACT
Religious Freedom as a Human Right The notion of the right to religious freedom, as a fundamental human right, is not new. According to Roman jurisprudence, the manifestations of a specifi c religious belief and, it follows, a religion, must be conducted and regulated fi rst of all according to the rules enforced by jus divinum (divine law) and jus naturale (natural law) , which ‘nature itself has made along with humankind’, and only afterwards by civilia iura (civil rights), which ‘have been created when the cities were built, the magistrates were elected, and the laws were written down’. 1
Examination of the texts of the main international and European juridical instruments indicates that religious freedom is itself above all a jus , that is a right, which is founded on jus divinum , jus naturale , and jus positivum , i.e. jus scriptum (written law), 2 hence its characteristic of jus cogens (peremptory norm, fundamental principle of international law). People can only be subjected to the penalties established by the law. They can be deprived of the right to religious freedom when their actions detrimentally affect the rights and freedoms
rights): ‘to live honestly, not to harm another person, and give everyone what is deserved’.
