Translated material
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation proposes to reform the current legislation regulating the holding of mass religious events
5 December 2012, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in response to the complaint of the Commissioner for human rights checked compliance with the constitution of paragraph 5 of Art. 16 of the Federal Law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations” and paragraph 5 of Art. 19 of the Law of the Republic of Tatarstan "On freedom conscience and religious associations” and issued a corresponding resolution.
Recall that, according to paragraph 5 of Art. 16 of the Federal Law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" and paragraph 5 of Art. 19 of the law of the same name of the Republic of Tatarstan, " public services, other religious rites and ceremonies, held outside religious buildings and structures and territories related to them, other places provided to religious organizations for these purposes, outside the places pilgrimages, institutions and enterprises of religious organizations, cemeteries and crematoria, as well as residential premises, are carried out in the manner prescribed for holding rallies, marches and demonstrations .”
According to Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, " unconditional the obligation to notify the competent authorities in advance of [public worship] , represent excessive interference of the state in the exercise by citizens of the rights to freedom religion and freedom to assemble peacefully and without weapons, and therefore contradict Art. 28 and Art. 31 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation ”.
Having considered complaint of the commissioner for human rights, the court concluded that it was necessary take into account the differences between "assemblies of a secular and religious nature" and "differentiate the legal regime for their implementation”, depending on whether “ the authorities are required to public authority to take measures aimed at ensuring public order and security as participants in a religious event "or not required. In the latter case, it is possible to “provide for their implementation in a different way, a less strict legal regime compared to that established for holding rallies, demonstrations and marches.
" The need to notify authorized public authorities or local governments about such public religious event and carry other statutory encumbrances by virtue of the mere fact of his carrying out outside specially designated places for these purposes is unlawful interference of the state in the sphere of freedom of conscience, guaranteed to everyone by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and recognized by Article 9 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and unreasonable <…> restriction the right to freedom of assembly, enshrined in Article 31 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation ,” in the text of the decision of the Constitutional Court.
Court ordered to make the necessary changes in the regulation of the procedure for conducting public worship, which would allow to take into account the content characteristics of specific types of such public religious events, based on the fact that not all of them require public authorities to take measures aimed at ensuring public order and security as participants in the public religious event, and other citizens .
The Constitutional Court ruled also "henceforth before making appropriate changes to the current legal regulation, arising from this resolution" when considering controversial issues, related to holding religious events in non-residential premises, not be guided by the law on rallies (i.e. not require prior agreement) in cases where the organization action does not require "acceptance measures aimed at ensuring public order, security and peace of mind of the citizens.
Recall that the reason for the appeal to the Constitutional Court of the commissioner for human rights in the Russian Federation was the decision of the world court Vakhitovsky district of Kazan, on the basis of which in June 2009 P.E. to administrative responsibility for hours. 1 Article. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation the organizer of a public event in accordance with the established procedure for organizing or meeting) for holding a congress of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kazan without agreement with the authorities.
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