The Church Registration Processes in the Czech Republic: Current Situation from the Perspective of Sociological Jurisprudence

Abstract

The study presents a critical view of the church registration processes in the Czech Republic from a sociological jurisprudence perspective. First, it reviews the main issues as they appear in the current debate on the relationship between the state and religion. Next, it addresses the socio-cultural specifics of the relationship between state and religion in the Czech Republic and describes the current legal settings. The analytical part focuses on the judicial review of church registration processes between 2010 and 2022. Finally, the authors review individual cases and their legal outcomes to gain insight into the key problematic issues. The authors argue that (a) the national legal setting creates an unequal environment for the organizations that have been assessed in the study, and that (b) consequently, the state often exceeds its authority in the church registration process.