Akadēmiskais centrshttps://doi.org/10.22364/iscflul.9.1.01 | 14-26 | PDF
Ringolds Balodis, Dr. iur.
Latvijas Universitātes Juridiskās fakultātes profesors
Civillikuma 51. pants kā lakmusa papīrs esošam tiesiskam regulējumam
Latvian Article Civil Code Article 51 as a Litmus Test for Existing Legal Regulations
Atslēgvārdi: Latvijas Republikas Satversme, Civillikums, baznīca, konfesija, reliģiskas organizācijas, baznīcas šķirtība (atdalītība) no valsts, laulību reģistrācija
Key words: The Satversme (Constitution) of the Republic of Latvia, Civil Code, denomination, religious organization, separation of church and state, registration of a marriage
Summary
Although the Church in Latvia is separated from the state, there are eight denominations which are permitted by the state to conduct marriage registration. On behalf of the state, with legal force, but according to the procedure adopted in the denomination. The Civil Code of Latvia names these denominations: Roman Catholics, Evangelical Lutherans, Orthodox, Old Believers, Methodists, Baptists, Seventh-Day Adventists and Jews. Special laws have been adopted for all the aforementioned denominations, which stipulate their special status, including the right to register marriages on behalf of the state. In 2023, the Latvian Parliament decided that Latvian neo-pagans “Dievturi” will join the above group of denominations – godmen who are closely related to the cultivation of national traditions. The “Dievturi” have been fighting for this opportunity for more than twenty years. Initially, the deputies were only inclined to supplement Article 51 of the Civil Code with the ninth denomination and only after a long debate realized that such a step would not be legally correct. It will be a circumvention and disparagement of special Church laws. It would also incur significant damage to the legal framework established for religious organizations that has developed over decades.
As a result, the parliament decided to supplement the Civil Code with the denomination “Dievturi”, although noting that “The amendment in the article regarding the right to conclude a marriage also with a clergyman of the theocratic denomination, who has permission from the head of the denomination, enters into force at the same time as a separate law on the regulation of mutual relations between the state and the religious organization of “Dievturi” and will be included in the wording of the law on the date of entry into force of the separate law.” In the article, the author provides substantiation to the position that the Civil Code should abandon the list of denominations, instead providing a reference to the special laws of the Church. Such an approach would be clearer legally and would free the legislator from adopting legal norms that create questions and unnecessary risks for those applying the law.
Brīvības robežu pārskatīšana, dzīvojot apdraudējumu apstākļos. I. Latvijas Universitātes Juridiskās fakultātes 9. starptautiskās zinātniskās konferences rakstu krājums = Revisiting the Limits of Freedom While Living Under Threat. I. The first collection of research papers in conjunction with the 9th International Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia. Rīga: LU Akadēmiskais apgāds, 2024. 312 lpp.