Published on 11 October 2021

FIFTH SECTION

Application no. 49264/12 Leonid MOROZ and Others against Azerbaijan lodged on 31 July 2012 communicated on 20 September 2021

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application lodged by the Religious Community of Jehovah’s Witnesses (“the Community”) and two individual applicants, who were its chairman and its founder, concerns a refusal by the State Committee for Work with Religious Communities (“the State Committee”) to re-register the Community as a legal entity.

The Community had been first registered in Azerbaijan in 1999. In 2002, the State Committee re-registered the Community in accordance with domestic law. In 2009, amendments were made to the Law on the Freedom of Religion, which required all registered religious communities to apply for State re-registration prior to 1 January 2010. The Community’s application for re-registration was refused by the State Committee on the ground that it had failed to inform the State Committee about a change in the list of its members within twenty days, as required by domestic law. The applicants’ appeals to all levels of court were dismissed, the final decision being the Supreme Court’s judgment of 1 February 2012.

The applicants complain before the Court that the refusal to re-register the Community was in breach their right to freedom of religion and right to freedom of association under Articles 9 and 11 of the Convention. They argue that because it had not been re-registered and hence had not had the status of a legal entity, the Community was unable to function properly and to exercise the full range of religious activities, including provision of pastoral services, and acquisition and use of religious literature.

The applicants also complain under Article 14 taken in conjunction with Articles 9 and 11 of the Convention that the domestic authorities treated the Community differently from other religious communities because they had described it as an “unlawful and harmful sect” and that the refusal to re ‑ register the Community was motivated by the substance of its religious beliefs.

There is no information on whether or not the Community was re ‑ registered later.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Has there been an interference with the applicants’ freedom of religion, within the meaning of Article 9 § 1 of the Convention? If so, was that interference prescribed by law and necessary in terms of Article 9 § 2?

2. Has there been an interference with the applicants’ freedom of association, in particular, their right to form a religious community, within the meaning of Article 11 § 1 of the Convention? If so, was that interference prescribed by law and necessary in terms of Article 11 § 2?

3. Have the applicants suffered discrimination in the enjoyment of their Convention rights, contrary to Article 14 of the Convention?

APPENDIX

List of applicants

No.

Applicant’s Name

Year of birth/registration

Nationality/Place of registration

Place of residence/registration

1.Leonid MOROZ

1971Azerbaijani

Baku

2.Kirill STEPANOV

1979Azerbaijani

Baku

3.RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

1999Registered in Azerbaijan

Baku