LEGAL STATUS OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS IN GEORGIA

Abstract

What is implied in the word “Religion”? According to the definition of sociologist Ronald Johnstone, “Religion is called to a system of beliefs and rituals through which a group of people explain and respond to what they consider supernatural and sacred“. For this very reason religion is a very sensitive subject and freedom of religion is one of the key accomplishments of the mankind. Still, achieving religious freedom between human rights has appeared to be one of the most difficult and painful processes. None of the basic human rights required so much sacrifice, time and effort as the recognition and protection of freedom of religion – as if a simple, but at the same time the most internal and personal right. Freedom of religion is a broad concept and involves many aspects, including the right to publicly proclaiming one’s faith, the right to perform religious rituals, the right to freely choose religion or the right to have no religion at all, etc. However, in this article we are not going to discuss freedom of religion as a broad concept, rather, aspects such as legal forms of religious organizations, means of their establishments and procedures, as well as effectiveness, structure and other characteristics of the forms of religious organizations will be analyzed.