Law Upheld which Interferes with Church Affairs

Country: Czech Republic

Date of incident: November 14, 2007


The Czech Constitutional Court dismissed the proposal by a group of senators to abolish a controversial amendment to the church law that churches say limits their rights.

Brno, Czech Republic - The Czech Constitutional Court dismissed the proposal by a group of senators to abolish a controversial amendment to the church law, pushed through by the left, that churches say limits their rights.

Church representatives say the amendment to the law passed in 2005 interferes with the churches' rights to establish spiritual institutions as well as charities, schools and medical facilities, as they now must receive legal permission from the state. Opponents to the law also argue that it is undemocratic, unconstitutional, and a return to the situation of religious societies before 1990.

Church representatives referred to the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms according to which churches and religious organisations establish their spiritual and other church institutions independently from state bodies, as well to the Constitutional Court's previous verdicts.

The proposal to abolish the amendment was submitted to the Constitutional Court in January 2006 and it was signed by 25 then senators. 

("ČTK," November 14, 2007)