STRASBOURG, April 8 (RAPSI) – The rights of several religious communities in Hungary were violated after each lost its full-church status under the new Hungarian Church Act, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held Tuesday.

Several religious organizations turned to the ECHR after losing the monetary and fiscal advantages that had previously come with full-church status. The applicants included over a dozen Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist organizations or organization members.*

The Hungarian Church Act, which took effect in January 2012, aimed to curb the exploitation of state funds by certain religious organizations. The law limited the scope of churches eligible to receive state benefits to 32 officially recognized organizations.

Considering the law, the court found that it was not “necessary in a democratic society.” While it may be a legitimate aim to combat fraudulent activities, the court found that Hungary had failed to demonstrate that the problem could have been resolved by way of a less sweeping solution.

Furthermore, “a situation in which religious communities are reduced to courting political parties for their favourable votes is irreconcilable with the State’s neutrality requisite in this field.

Based on these and other issues, the court concluded that the authorities had neglected their duty of neutrality toward the applicant religious communities, and thus found that there had been a violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of association) when read in light of Article 9 (freedom of religion).

The court held that its finding of a violation was in itself sufficient just satisfaction.

*The specific organizations included: the Hungarian Christian Mennonite Church, the Evangelical Szolnok Congregation Church, the Budapest Autonomous Congregation, the Sim Shalom Church, the Alliance of Hungarian Reformed Jewish Communities Church, the European Union for Progressive Judaism, the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship, the Bible Talks’ Church of Hungary, ANKH Church of Eternal Life, the Traditional Church of the Legal Basis of Árpád’s Order, the Dharmaling Hungary Buddhist Church, the Children of Light’ Hungarian Essene Church, the Mantra Buddhist Church of Hungary, the Szangye Menlai Gedun, Community of Healing Buddha Church, the Church of the Universe, the Usui Spiritual School Community Church, and the Community of Way and Virtue Church.