The Salvation Army in Moscow has won
a significant legal victory that is expected to reverse government officials'
efforts to shut it down. The victory may also help other church groups, which
had fallen afoul of controversial religious legislation.
A Constitutional Court decision in favor of the Salvation Army has overturned
previous decisions by four Moscow courts, including a September 12, 2001
liquidation ruling by a city court, which came into force last December after
an appeal against it failed.
The legal battle pitted the Christian group against officials in the city's
Justice Ministry.
The dispute had threatened the Moscow work of the worldwide Protestant
organization, which operates projects in the city helping the poor, elderly,
drug addicts, prisoners and AIDS sufferers.
Its origin was a 1997 religion law that required all religious groups operating
in Russia to re-register with the government by the end of 2000. Critics said
the legislation was an attempt by lawmakers to clamp down on what was regarded
as imported foreign faiths, and entrench the dominance of the influential
Russian Orthodox Church.
The Salvation Army returned to Russia in 1992, almost 60 years after being
kicked out by the Communists. After 1992 it was registered to operate in six
parts of the country.
Under the 1997 law, it duly applied for re-registration, and was successful in
all cases except for Moscow. It also successfully applied for national status
as a "centralized religious organization."
But in the capital, city Justice Ministry officials refused to accept the
organization's application, on the grounds that it did not fulfill certain
requirements in the 1997 legislation. A deadline for re-registration therefore
came and went, and the Salvation Army's Moscow work looked doomed.
Part of the problem, according to allegations made during court cases, was the
perception that the Salvation Army - because of its name and militaristic
terminology - was a armed group of some sort.
In one 2000 court case it was described as "militarized" and
"fascist." A judge who threw out an earlier appeal against Moscow's
decision not to register the Salvation Army accused it of planning to overthrow
the state.
Amid these allegations, the Salvation Army continued its legal struggle.
Represented by the Moscow-based Slavic Center for Law and Justice (SCLJ), it
took the case to the Constitutional Court last September. It also opened a case
at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
Russia's highest court has now ruled that, because the Salvation Army had been
registered before 1997, it could not be denied re-registration on the basis of
new requirements in the 1997 law. The court's decision, which will also affect
other churches in a similar position, is final.
The Salvation Army will now resubmit its application, on the basis of the court
decision.
"We anticipate a prompt, favorable decision," said the organization's
Russia and East European head, Colonel Ken Baillie.
"The court's decision is clear - we should not be denied re-registration.
We trust that city officials will now honor the court's intent."
The court also decided that previous legal rulings in connection with the
Moscow branch were now "subject to reconsideration."
The Salvation Army will go back to two city courts, to ask for a review of
their earlier liquidation ruling, as well as the claims that it is a
"military organization" whose members "inevitably" break
Russian law.
Baillie said the Salvation Army only wanted "to preach the gospel of Jesus
Christ and serve suffering humanity. Now we think we can continue in the great
city of Moscow, and that is good news indeed."
SCLJ lawyers were also pleased at the news. The SCLJ, an affiliate of the
Virginia Beach-based American Center for Law and Justice, also represents other
churches in Russia, many of which it believes will be favorably affected by the
court's decision.
SCLJ lawyers had argued that the threat of liquidation for failing to
re-register under the 1997 law violated articles in the country's 1993
constitution providing for freedom of conscience and the right to assembly.
"It is a real breakthrough in our fight for religious freedom in
Russia," the lawyers said of the victory.