Berkley Center

Heiner Bielefeldt is a German philosopher, historian, Catholic theologian, and the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. He is also a professor of human rights and human rights policy at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Bielefeldt’s research interests include various interdisciplinary facets of human rights theory and practice, with a focus on freedom of religion or belief. After holding various positions at different universities, from 2003 to 2009 he served as the director of the German Institute for Human Rights, which monitors the human rights situation within Germany on behalf of the German government. He is the author of numerous books on questions of political ethics, legal philosophy, and philosophy of religion. Bielefeldst has served as special rapporteur since 2010, having been reappointed in 2013.