Zasady stosunku państwa do związków wyznaniowych w ustawach zasadniczych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej oraz Republiki Białoruś

Abstract

Regulation of the religious issues belongs to the important and essential part of the constitutional regulations in contemporary states. It is not different in the former socialistic countries such as the Republic of Poland and countries which appeared after the Soviet Union’s fall such as Belarus. Constitutions of those countries, just like constitutions of majority of other ones, regulate two fundamental religious issues. Firstly, they describe the attitude of a state toward the religious organizations and through this regulation they de fine the model of the state. Secondly, they regulate particular freedom that is freedom of conscience and religion and specify rights deriving from it. The fundamental law of Belarus is characterized by the lack of the religious provisions’ separation. Regulation of the freedom of conscience and religion is placed in the chapter dedicated to freedoms, rights and obligations of the individual and citizen and at the same time includes the regulation of the state attitude toward religious organizations. Provisions incorporated in the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus can be grouped around the following religious principles: principle of freedom of conscience and religion with very general subject–matter scope, principle of equality of individuals, principle of secularity of state, principle of treatment equality of religious organizations. Based on norms included in art. 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland the following constitutional religious principles can be introduced: equal rights of the churches and other religious organizations; impartiality of the public authorities in matters of personal conviction, whether religious or philosophical, or in relation to outlooks on life; freedom of their expression within public life; principle of respect for the autonomy and mutual independence between the state and churches and other religious organizations; cooperation of the state, churches and other religious organizations for the individual and the common good; concordat and statutory form of the regulation concerning the relation between the Republic of Poland and Roman Catholic Church as well as statutory form of regulation of relations between the Republic of Poland and churches and other religious organizations based on the international treaties concluded by the Council of Ministers with their respective representations. Extensive development in the particular Constitution’s executive acts is a common feature of the constitutional religious norms in the three presented states