Scientology – Germany /// “Laicity and freedoms: Legal writings [LAICIDAD Y LIBERTADES: ESCRITOS JURIDICOS]” is an annual scientific magazine edited by the “Law, Secularism and Freedoms” Association [Derecho, Laicidad y Libertades]. They publish original scientific works, aiming “to make known, both to the scientific community and to professionals in the world of Law and anyone interested in these issues, the most relevant advances that have occurred in the field of freedom of conscience, secularism and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms“.
In addition, it gives an account of the legislative, jurisprudential and doctrinal developments, both nationally and internationally, that are related to these issues and all this is done “with the intention of opening channels for debate and critical analysis and stimulating research” reads the intro section of the magazine.
A particularly expected paper for this publication was the “Commentary on the judgment of the Bavarian State Administrative Court of Appeal of 16 June 2021 declaring the exclusion of Scientology members from an award of public subsidies incompatible with religious freedom and the principle of equality” (1), authored by Ivan Arjona Pelado, a known member of the Church of Scientology, who, in addition to Chair a UN ECOSOC Special Consultative Status foundation, is since 2017 the President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights.
The decision of June 16th 2021 that condemned the City of Munich rules that:
“exclusion from the municipal sponsorship programme because of an affiliation to a particular religion or belief is also disproportionate. The blanket rejection of applications from persons belonging to or close to the Scientology organisation is already inadequate to achieve the intended purpose.”
The author analyzes the recent Judgment of the Administrative Court of Appeal of the State of Bavaria, of June 16th, 2021, which declares contrary to the right of religious freedom and the principle of equality and non-discrimination before the Law, the denial of an administrative grant, to a member of the Church of Scientology, simply because of his membership. This is an important step towards the recognition of the Church of Scientology in Germany and the full recognition of the freedom of conscience and the principle of non-discrimination on religious grounds.
In this 2021 paper, Arjona points out that:
“It is shocking that in the 21st century, blatant discrimination continues to persist under the guise of “protecting a free democratic order”; that in Germany, lists of “enemies” are still being drawn up, reminiscent of other periods in its history, allegedly rejected by the German state itself, presumably because the behaviour is the same.”
Later in the conclusion of his paper, the author states that
“In Germany, and in Bavaria in particular, there are lists of good and bad citizens, not because they have broken the law and this has been proven by the courts, but because a group of people believe that these citizens have aims that conflict with their constitution. This opinion may come from simple ignorance, or from intentions of another kind, but it cannot, or should not be able to, be officially adopted by any authority in the European space.”
Arjona also added about the way some German authorities especially in the executive powers that, “Circumventing the rule of law, under the pretext of the protection of the constitution, is a fraud on these citizens, in which no one is safe, and brings us back to the well-known poem by the Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller which begins “First they came for the communists…”.
The full paper can be read in Spanish in ACADEMIA
Reference
(1) ARJONA PELADO, IVAN, “Comentario a la sentencia del Tribunal Administrativo de Apelación del Estado de Baviera, de 16 de junio de 2021, por la que se declara incompatible con la libertad religiosa y el principio de igualdad, la exclusión de una adjudicación de subvenciones públicas a los miembros de ScientologyLa tutela penal de la libertad religiosa”, in Laicidad y Libertades: Escritos Juridicos 2021 ISSN 1696-6937, 2021, p. 43-70
