Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations freedom of thought and conscience and the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice may not be limited, and are protected unconditionally.343 It is only the right to manifest one’s religion or belief that may be limited. General Comment No. 22 further stresses that the terms “religion” and “belief” are to be broadly construed, and that Article 18 applies not only to traditional or institutionalized religions or beliefs, but also to those that are newly established or represent religious minorities, among others (see Box 9.4). Similarly, under Article 9 of the ECHR, complaints have been accepted by the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of major traditional world religions,344 smaller or newer religions,345 as well as coherent and sincerely held philosophical convictions.346 At the same time, the Court has noted that personal or collective convictions will only benefit from the protection of Article 9 if they achieve a level of “cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance”.347 Once this is attained, the Court has made clear that it is not for state authorities to determine which religions are authentic, correct or deserving of recognition: “[T]he State’s duty of neutrality and impartiality is incompatible with any power on the State’s part to assess the legitimacy of religious beliefs or the ways in which those beliefs are expressed”.348 The manifestation of one’s religion or belief may take many forms, ranging from personal matters, such as religious dress, expression and education, to more public manifestations, such as visiting places of worship, taking part in religious rites, creating and participating in religious communities and organizations, and publishing activities and statements. 343 UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 22, op. cit., note 278, para. 3. 344 For example: Alevism; Buddhism; different Christian denominations; various forms of Hinduism, including the Hare Krishna movement; and branches of Islamism, Sikhism and Taoism. See: Council of Europe, Guide to Article 9, op. cit., note 342, para. 17. 345 For example, the Court has heard cases brought by the Unification Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism), the Raëlian Movement, Neo-Paganism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, among others. Ibid., para. 17. 346 For example, pacifism, principled opposition to military service. Ibid., para. 17. See also: European Court for Human Rights, Kokkinakis v. Greece (Application No. 14307/88, judgment of 25 May 1993), para. 31, which states that freedom of thought, conscience and religion is “a precious asset for atheists, agnostics, sceptics and the unconcerned”. 347 European Court for Human Rights, İzzettin Doğan and others v. Turkey (Application no. 62649/10, judgment of 26 April 2016), para 68. 348 European Court for Human Rights, Eweida and others v. the United Kingdom (Application nos. 48420/10, 59842/10, 51671/10 and 36516/10, judgment of 15 January 2013), para. 81. 149