Il principio di non discriminazione e il riconoscimento giuridico delle comunità religiose e di pensiero: la legislazione armena al vaglio della Commissione di Venezia

The recognition of a legal personality is fundamental for the full enjoyment of freedom of religion by religious organizations. Their activity would be complex without a legal personality. Its absence would constrict fundamental aspects for the exercise of this freedom. Consequently, the denial of a similar attribution to a religious community must be justified and limited to residual hypotheses. The Venice Commission has prepared the "Joint Guidelines on the legal personality of religious or belief communities", paying attention to the regulation of the manifestation of religious belief in public contexts and to the internal organization of religious communities and their recognition within the state. Starting from the recent Joint Opinion n. 909/2017, adopted by the Venice Commission on March 17th 2018, the paper will analyze the practical implications of these Guidelines with regard to the Armenian law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations. Through a comparison of the potential discriminations in the procedure of registration of religious organizations with international standards on the subject, it will study the Commission’s approach first in identifying and delineating these standards and, secondly, according to them, in amending the current legislation. This analysis, both on the general question and on the specific case of Armenia, will lead through an investigation of the role of the Venice Commission and its position at international level.