The Government is still studying the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights of Strasbourg about matters regarding Hungarian church law – said the Parliamentary Minister of State of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice on a morning TV programme of the Hungarian television channel this Wednesday.

Bence Rétvári drew attention to the fact that the decision published on Tuesday is not final and Hungary may turn to the Grand Chamber of the Court for judgment. He noted that the Board of Strasbourg is not under the European Union, but an organization of the Council of Europe, thus could not force Member States to change laws.

The politician took the view that the Board has decided on an indirect violation of law, given as the financial support of churches is involved. He reminded that the law was intended to filter out „business churches”.
As the Minister of State said, the judges told that Hungary would have had other opportunities to filter out these churches through ‘softer’ ways – such as re-registration –, but they did not tell Hungary what this way should have been.

According to Bence Rétvári, what should be studied is that the legislation has changed very often during recent times and the judgment of the Court takes first versions into account, but it is possible that does not consider the provisions of the current Fundamental Law and other pivotal statutory as well.

As he added, because the laws regarding the issue have changed, it might be that this interpretation is not up-to-date, but it may be said only after an accurate studying of the judgment.
He recalled another institution of the Council of Europe; the Venice Commission  stated that the church law in force is an extremely broad and liberal terrain of freedom of religion.

The European Court of Human Rights decided this Tuesday that the religious communities suing the Hungarian State were injured in freedom of thought, conscience and religion to respect of freedom of association, with the new law depriving them of their canonical status as a church. The lawsuit was launched by many religious communities being deprived of their former status.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)