THE LEGAL CONTEXT OF INTER- RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STATE AND RELIGION – THE GEORGIAN MODEL
A short comparative legal survey based on examples from the European Union
Abstract
In general, a constitution is perceived as a legal form of a society’s self-manifestation, the natural result of its past and a cultural phenomenon. Taking this premise into account, the legislative arrangement regulating person-state relations is part of a national juridical (though not limited to) culture and one of its determining factors. In this regard, Georgia’s present legislation that regulates freedom of religion is an interesting example.
In compliance with Chapter 16 (Articles 142, 143 and 144) of Georgia’s first Constitution of 21 February 1921, “Church and State shall be separate and independent. No religion shall enjoy privilege. Expenditures from the State Treasury and the funds of local self-governance bodies for religious purposes shall be prohibited.”
In compliance with Chapter 9 of Georgia’s second Constitution of 24 August 1995: “The state shall declare complete freedom of belief and religion, as well as shall recognise the special role of the Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia in the history of Georgia and its independence from the state. The relations between the state of Georgia and the Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia shall be determined by the Constitutional Agreement. The Constitutional Agreement shall correspond completely with universally recognised principles and norms of international law, in particular, in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Two similar provisions – from the first and the second (current) Constitutions respectively- describe two dramatically different realities in the field of freedom of religion. Georgia’s post-Soviet juridical and political reality, as distinct from the beginning of the 20th century, seems relatively desecularised. But what is the actual juridical reality? The aims of the present article, given the scale and standard parameters of the issue in question, are to analyze those Georgian norms and European standards that define forum externum of freedom of religion as well as to identify lacunae in the present legislation, draft proposals for eradicating the lacunae and to intensify discussions on the subject. Using comparative-legal and systemic-logical methods, the article randomly reviews legal norms applied within the EU as well as legislative models of relationship between religious associations and the States; also, the problems of inter-relations between secularism and post-secularism, political ethics and so-called official theology. The article also analyses the legislative scheme underlying Georgian norms that regulate inter-relationship between the State and religions associations.
