Alfred Verdross – A Visionary of Contemporary Doctrine and Practice of International Law

Prof. Witkowski who was kind enough to present us to you in this honouring way referred to the proclamation of the state of emergency and of martial law that took place in Poland on the 13th of December 1981, exactly 29 years ago. Let me tell you that we have always admired the courage of those who have made Poland a beacon of civil resistance against an oppressive system within the communist block eight years before those communist regimes began to falter and fi nally broke down. This courage of the Polish people was certainly an important fact which contributed – together with other facts and persons, not to forget the Polish pope – to the dawn of freedom and democracy in those parts of Europe which so long suff ered from oppression. We shall always keep all these persons and the sacrifi ces they made in high respect

A paradigmatic change: Religious Liberty from Alfredo Ottaviani to Dignitatis humanae

There is no human right that has been as controversial as religious liberty. While it is but a consequence of the existing pluralism in society which today is recognised by the most advanced States and communities of States as forming the practical and theoretical basis for all political institutions, Islamic countries still reject what they consider simply a Judeo-Christian tradition; and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam of 1990 subjects all the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration to the Islamic Sharia. The essential flaw of this position consists in that it regards religious liberty not a liberty of man but a liberty of truth. And since Islam is considered to be the religion of true unspoiled nature it is concluded that there cannot exist any human right that is not supported by, or even runs counter to, Islamic doctrine. Until this approach is overcome, there will not be true religious liberty in Islamic countries. That it is possible, for a religious community that claims to be the keeper of religious truth, to overcome such an approach has been demonstrated in an exemplary manner by the Catholic Church. Papal teaching and ecclesiastical doctrine before the Second Vatican Council maintained a position not unsimilar to that of the Cairo Declaration, arguing that error cannot claim the same right as truth. It was only the Council’s Declaration on Religious Liberty Dignitatis humanae of 1965 that brought about a radical change by recognising that religious liberty is a liberty of man deriving from his dignity as a free person and – as all human rights – not subject to any other restrictions than those which are necessary to protect the same rights and liberties of others. The position taken by the Second Vatican Council can serve as a model for overcoming the traditional approach of religions and/or religious institutions and “religious” States towards freedom of religion

A paradigmatic change: Religious Liberty from Alfredo Ottaviani to Dignitatis humanae

There is no human right that has been as controversial as religious liberty. While it is but a consequence of the existing pluralism in society which today is recognised by the most advanced States and communities of States as forming the practical and theoretical basis for all political institutions, Islamic countries still reject what they consider simply a Judeo-Christian tradition; and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam of 1990 subjects all the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration to the Islamic Sharia. The essential flaw of this position consists in that it regards religious liberty not a liberty of man but a liberty of truth. And since Islam is considered to be the religion of true unspoiled nature it is concluded that there cannot exist any human right that is not supported by, or even runs counter to, Islamic doctrine. Until this approach is overcome, there will not be true religious liberty in Islamic countries. That it is possible, for a religious community that claims to be the keeper of religious truth, to overcome such an approach has been demonstrated in an exemplary manner by the Catholic Church. Papal teaching and ecclesiastical doctrine before the Second Vatican Council maintained a position not unsimilar to that of the Cairo Declaration, arguing that error cannot claim the same right as truth. It was only the Council’s Declaration on Religious Liberty Dignitatis humanae of 1965 that brought about a radical change by recognising that religious liberty is a liberty of man deriving from his dignity as a free person and – as all human rights – not subject to any other restrictions than those which are necessary to protect the same rights and liberties of others. The position taken by the Second Vatican Council can serve as a model for overcoming the traditional approach of religions and/or religious institutions and “religious” States towards freedom of religion