Protection of Religious Freedom: Legal and Constitutional Framework
Care of Fundamental Rights of Religious Freedom
1. Constitutional Guarantee
Article 16 of the Spanish Constitution (EC) guarantees the right to religious freedom, enjoying constitutional protection. Articles 53.1 and 53.2 EC establish preferential and summary legal proceedings for fundamental rights. Article 81 EC mandates regulation of religious matters by Organic Law (LO), respecting their essential content. Constitutional complaints and recourse to the Ombudsman (Art. 54 EC) are available.
Fundamental rights guarantees include:
- Direct application
- Requirement of law (Act)
- Protection of essential content
2. Internal Guardianship: Legislative Protection
Criminal Legislative Protection
The 1995 Penal Code reform (Articles 522-526) addresses crimes against freedom of conscience, religious beliefs, and respect for the dead. Crimes removed in the 1995 reform include mistreatment of ministers of religion, offenses in religious sites, and disqualification penalties for crimes in education. New crimes include genocide against religious groups, crimes against humanity, crimes against religions protected by international standards, aggravated crimes based on religion (Art. 22 CP), and offenses involving religious discrimination (Arts. 510 et seq.).
Penal Protection: Immunity from Unlawful Restrictions
- Individual Level: Article 522 CP prohibits coercion in religious practice. Any person can be a victim, while the perpetrator must be a member of a religious denomination. Coercion through violence, intimidation, or pressure to prevent religious practice is punishable, with increased penalties for offenses in places of worship.
- Collective Level: Article 523 CP protects the right of assembly and demonstration for religious purposes, including for registered religious entities. Interrupting, preventing, or disrupting religious practice is prohibited.
Penal Protection: Against Unlawful Encroachments
- Desecration: Article 524 CP prohibits desecration of temples or places of worship, offending legally protected religious feelings. Protection applies to registered religious faiths. Desecration involves disrespectful acts or profane use of sacred objects within a temple or shrine, with specific intent to injure religious feelings.
- Derision: Article 525 CP prohibits public ridicule or mockery of religious dogmas, beliefs, rites, or ceremonies, regardless of registration status.
Legislative and Administrative Protection
.
Police worship. The administration is responsible to exercise a supervisory and control over public manifestations of religious phenomenon.
Rights of assembly and demonstration. The right of assembly is enshrined in art. 21 EC as a generic right, and developed in the AS 9 / 1983. As regards the manifestation of religious freedom, art. 2.1d of the LOLR said that if done indoors is not necessary to notify the competent authority, but, if done in places open to the public.
The right to freedom of expression. Is recognized in the art. 20.1 CE and the LOLR.
Right of religious information. Art. 20.1 CE 2.1 LOLR art and recognize the right of everyone to receive and impart information through any religious procedure.
Regarding newspaper companies confessional. Workers are not obliged to respect the pluralism of information that comes from freedom of information. Eg COPE.
Regarding radio and television companies. It is illegal television advertising that attempts to due respect for the dignity of the persons or their religious convictions. It provides that religious programs lasting less than 30 minutes shall not be interrupted by advertising or teleshopping, nor may advertise in the issue of religious services. Television programs have slots for certain programs.
Religious festivities. Will require an agreement between the employee or student and the employer or educational institution, whether public or concluded. Royal Legislative Decree 1 / 1995 and LOLR.
Employment Discrimination. It incorporates the Royal Legislative Decree 5 / 2000 on approving the law on offenses and penalties in the social order.
It is a very serious offense unilateral decisions of employers involving discrimination on religious ideas.
Violations shall be handled on a proposal from the Inspectorate of Labour and Social Security, through appropriate administrative record without prejudice to the responsibilities of another kind which can occur.
Civil discrimination. This protection is manifested at marriage in a religious way.
3 .- Guardianship Internal administrative and executive protection.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has jurisdiction over religious matters. So is the Ministry of Justice, but depends on the justice secretary and secretary of religious affairs.
Entities Registry, established pursuant to the provisions of art. 5 LOLR, vested in the Ministry of Justice as a matter of general and public record, and linked to the Directorate General of Religious Affairs.
4 .- Internal Custody: legal protection.
And acts attributed by the competent bodies and by the procedural law established. Art. 4 LOLR provides that the rights recognized herein shall be protected by injunctive relief before the ordinary courts and under the Constitutional Court.
Constitutional jurisdiction. May intervene to protect the fundamental right of religious freedom through established processes, resource protection, constitutional challenge and the question of unconstitutionality.
Ordinary courts. The judges and courts that comprise must act through a procedure based on the principles of preferential and summary.
Criminal jurisdiction. It will only be applicable when seeking to pursue the protection of religious freedom by suppressing some of the crimes.
Civil jurisdiction. Known of the claims in defense of religious freedom through ordinary trial.
The social courts. Law refers to the working procedures.
5 .- International Guardianship.
The agencies that protect the right of religious freedom are:
The Story special on Religious Intolerance. Applied either automatically or because a country calls its intervention. Is the body responsible for implementing the declarations on religious intolerance. Is advisory, so that their opinions are not binding on states.
Human Rights Committee. Is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Plays an advisory and not binding.
Strasbourg Court of Human Rights. Their sentences if they are binding on states.