to protect the existing name of individuals – refuses to allow a change of name requested by an individual. help can be obtained from European Convention practice. And there he mentions that i.a. "the use of name" was suggested as being part of the concept of privacy. This is, by the way, a quote taken from Jacobs, who with reference to the similar provision of the European Convention (article 8) asserts that "the organs of the Convention have not developed the concept of privacy".2 Nevertheless, it can be argued that it would be appropriate to assume that the term "privacy" inasmuch as it covers, for the purpose of appropriate protection, an individual's name as part of his/her identity, also covers the right to change that name. In that regard one must have a closer look at the "Guidelines for the change of surname" published in the Netherlands Government Gazette in 1990 and applied in the Netherlands as common policy. The Dutch policy is, as a matter of principle, based on the premise that a person should keep the name which he/she acquires at birth in order to maintain legal and social stability (see para. 9.1, last sentence, of the Views). As such, this policy can hardly be seen as violating article 17. On the contrary, it is protective of acquired rights, such as the right to a certain name, and would seem to be very much in line with the precepts of article 17. What is true for the European Convention is equally true for the Covenant. In his commentary on the Covenant Nowak states that article 17 was the subject of virtually no debate during its drafting and that the case law on individual communications is of no assistance in ascertaining the exact meaning of the word.3 It is therefore not without reason that the State party argues that article 17 would not necessarily cover the right to change one's surname (see para. 7.1 of the Views). The Committee itself has not really clarified the notion of privacy either in its General Comment on article 17 where it actually refrains from defining that notion. In its General Comment the Committee attempts to define all the other terms used in article 17 such as "family", "home", "unlawful" and "arbitrary". It further refers to the protection of personal "honour" and "reputation" also mentioned in article 17, but it leaves open the definition of the main right enshrined in that article, i.e. the right to "privacy". While it is true that the Committee, in its General Comment, refers in various instances to "private life" and gives examples of cases in which States must refrain from interfering with specific aspects of private life, the question whether the name of a person is indeed protected by article 17 and, in particular, whether in addition there is a right to change one's name, is not brought up at all in the General Comment. A change of name, according to the Guidelines, will be granted when the current name is a) indecent, b) ridiculous, c) so common that it has lost its distinctive character and d) not Dutch sounding. None of these grounds was invoked by the authors when they asked for authorization to change their surnames. In accordance with the Guidelines a change of name can also be granted "in exceptional cases", for instance "in cases where the denial of the change of surname would threaten the applicant's mental or physical well-being" or "in cases where the denial would be unreasonable, taking into account the interests of both the applicant and the State" (see para. 9.2 of the Views). As the authors apparently could not show such "exceptional circumstances" in the course of the proceedings before the national authorities, their request was denied. Their assertion that they needed the name-change to become Hindu priests was apparently not substantiated (see the reasoning given by the Council of State in its decision of 17 October 1990, para. 2.3, last sentence, of the Views; see also the inadmissibility decision of the European Commission of Human Rights of 2 July 1992, where the European Commission held that the authors had not established that their religious studies would be impeded by the refusal to modify their surnames; para. 2.4, last sentence, of the Views). Nor can requirements imposed by Indian Hindu leaders be attributed to the Dutch authorities, as confirmed by the Committee in the present case in the framework of its decision on admissibility. There it examined the present communication under the angle of article 18 of the Covenant and came to the conclusion that "a State party to the Covenant cannot be held accountable for restrictions placed upon the exercise of religious offices by religious leaders in another country" (see para. 6.1 of the Views). I raise the above issues to demonstrate that the Committee is not really on safe legal ground in interpretating article 17 as it does in the present decision. I do, however, concur with the view that one's name is an important part of one's identity, the protection of which is central to article 17. Nowak is therefore correct in saying that privacy protects the special, individual qualities of human existence and a person's identity. Identity obviously includes one's name.4 What is, therefore, protected by article 17, is an individual's name and not necessarily the individual's desire to change his/her name at whim. The Committee recognizes this, albeit indirectly, in its own decision. The example it refers to in order to illustrate a possible case of State interference with individuals' rights under article 17 in contravention of that article is : "... if a State were to compel all foreigners to change their surnames.... " (see para. 10.2 of the Views). This view is correct, but obviously cannot have a bearing on a case where a State – for reasons of generally applied public policy and in order The request for a change of name was, therefore, legitimately turned down as the authors could not show the Dutch authorities "exceptional circumstances" as required by law. The refusal cannot be seen as a violation of article 17. To hold otherwise would be tantamount to recognizing that an individual has an almost absolute right to have his/her name changed on request and at whim. For such a view, in my opinion, one can find no basis in the Covenant. 2 Francis G. Jacobs, The European Convention on Human Rights (1975), p. 126. 3 Nowak, section 15. 4 CCPR Commentary (1993), p. 294, Nowak, loc. cit., p. 294, section 17. 77