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Original Article

State, religion and the legal framework in Estonia Footnote

Pages 181-196 | Published online: 12 May 2008
 

Abstract

Estonia has a reputation as one of the most liberal countries as far as religion is concerned. At the same time Estonian society is also highly secularised. In the postcommunist period the principles of freedom of religion were laid down in the constitution adopted by referendum in 1992, and the first law on religious associations as legal entities was passed by parliament in 1993. This law reflected the ‘free market’ atmosphere of the early 1990s: all religious associations registered according to the law were treated equally. There are areas where state and religious institutions have found common interests. The main partners for the state have been the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and the ecumenical association the Estonian Council of Churches. Could this be considered discriminatory when approximately 98 per cent of the adherents of any religion in Estonia claim to be Christians? There are different answers to this question. In 2002 a new law on religious associations replaced the previous law, but followed the principles established in 1993. There are also other laws and regulations on different aspects of religion, from the role of religion in public institutions like the army to religious traditions such as the slaughtering of animals. It could be argued that the successful establishing and maintaining of a liberal legislative framework for religion in Estonia is at least partly the outcome of the high secularisation level of Estonian society.

Notes

∗This article is a reworked and updated version of an article published in the journal Laicitad y Libertades: Escritos Juridicos, 6, 2006.

1 The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) was closed down by decree No. Sk-90 from the minister of the interior on 19 July 1935 on the basis of the State of Emergency Act, as the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses were considered politically harmful to Estonian foreign policy as well as threatening public order (see ERA).

2 In 1939 the minister of the interior suspended the activities of the bishop, the General Synod and the Consistory of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC) on the basis of Article 20 (RT, 1939, 80, 634). The reasons given for this decision were internal problems of the EELC concerning the divorce of the acting bishop (see Vihuri, Citation2007).

3 These included the Salvation Army, the Herrnhut (Moravian) Brethren, the YMCA/YWCA, and the pagan organisation Hiis (‘The Grove’). The Soviet government offered as reasons for disbanding these religious groups that either the headquarters of the organisation was situated outside the Soviet Union (for example, the Salvation Army) or that the organisation was ‘nationalist’ in character (for example, Hiis). Several priests of the Roman Catholic Church were also expelled from Soviet Estonia.

4 In 1940 the Estonian Communist Party started to organise local branches of the League of Militant Godless, as well as local groups to promote the Soviet atheist ideology. In January 1941 the first issue of a journal Ateistwas published (see Raid, Citation1978, pp. 136–46).

5 The ‘nationalisation’ of church buildings was completed with the decree Establishing Prayer Houses of Religious Cults (Usukultuste palvemajade kohta) (ENSV, 1944, 14, 172) and by the Provisional Directive on Organising the Activities of Religious Communities (Usuühingute korraldamise ajutine juhend) (ENSV, 1945, 28, 439). The Provisional Directive was replaced in 1977 by the Statute of Religious Communities (Usukoondiste p[otilde]himäärus) (ENSV, 1977, 19 (591), 222).

6 Apart from limited quantities of hymn sheets and small calendars. Only one exception was made to this ban: from 1956 the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC) was allowed to publish a yearbook, and from 1982 on a fairly regular basis. However, this exception must be seen within the context of Soviet propaganda: to suggest to the rest of the world that it was possible to publish religious materials in the Soviet Union. At the same time various kinds of religious and theological material were published unofficially, mostly in typewritten from, and distributed among trusted people.

7 Sunday schools run by the permitted religious associations were closed in 1940. Religious services were allowed only in prescribed locations. The mass media were used to paint a grotesque picture of religion and religious believers in general. Discrimination and repression of actively religious people did not affect only the family members of clergy: religiously active students were expelled from universities.

8 According to statistics provided by the largest religious community, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, to the Soviet authorities, baptismal rates declined from 5726 persons in 1959 to only 990 in 1969. Even more dramatic was the decline in the numbers of confirmations – from 6418 in 1959 to 452 in 1969– and church weddings – from 2780 in 1959 to 239 in 1969. The number of donating members also fell, from 173,770 in 1959 to 97,356 in 1969 (Statistics, 1959, 1969).

9 Baptismal rates in the Estonian Lutheran Church show some growth in the 1980s– from 853 in 1982 to 1371 in 1986 (Reports, 1983, 1987). Much more rapid growth in both baptismal and confirmation rates, however, coincided with the national reawakening in 1988 and 1989: 4364 persons were baptised in 1988 and 12,39l in 1989 (Reports, 1989, 1990). Although there was also a growth of religious observance among other denominations, the enormous popularity of the Lutheran Church was seen as the most obvious sign of the revival of religious institutions among the Estonians.

10 From 1993 to 1996 the unit responsible for religious affairs was called the Office for Religious Affairs (Usuasjade talitus); for a short period from 1996 to 1997 it was called the Religious Affairs Bureau (Usuasjade büroo); and from 1997 it has been called the Religious Affairs Department (Usuasjade osakond).

11 This move should be seen in historical perspective: from 1919 until the Soviet occupation in 1940 the Ministry of the Interior was the ministry responsible for church–state relations.

12 For example, the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. From 1997 until 2002 the Unification Movement was represented in Estonia as a legal entity through two regular non-profit associations: the Estonian Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Eesti Perekondade Föderatsioon Ülemaailmse Ühinemise ja Rahu Eest) (1997) and the Estonian Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (Eesti Üli[otilde]pilaste Printsiibiuurimisühendus) (1998). In 2003 the first Unification religious association – the Estonian Christian Unification Congregation (Eesti Kristlik Ühinemise Kogudus) – was entered in the Register of Religious Associations. The Unification movement in Estonia is rather small: fewer than a hundred people.

13 The Estonian congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for example, has expanded from the capital of Estonia to three other towns without applying the legal entity status to them. The Jehovah's Witnesses removed seven of their 11 congregations from the register; and according to their own official statistics they have 55 congregations currently operating in Estonia (Au and Ringvee, Citation2007, p. 91).

14 The website of the Estonian Council of Churches is www.ekn.ee (last accessed 3 February 2008). In 2007 it received 5.9 million kroons (approximately [euro]378,200) from the state budget (RT I, 2006, 62, 465).

15 Quotations are from the official English translation of the constitution.

16 The substitution of alternative service is regulated by the Defence Forces Service Act (RT I, 2000, 28, 167; 2007, 54, 360).

17 In 1992 the Monday morning sessions of parliament started with a prayer. However, within a month this practice was discontinued as inappropriate (Riigikogu, Citation1992).

18 The period of re-registration was later extended to 1 January 2005 (RT I, 2004, 54, 391).

19 In Article 2.2 a ‘church’ is defined as an association of at least three congregations which have joined it voluntarily, which has an episcopal structure, which is doctrinally related to three ecumenical creeds or is divided into at least three congregations, and which operates on the basis of its statutes and is managed by an elected or appointed management board. In Article 2.3 a ‘congregation’ is defined as a voluntary association of natural persons who profess the same faith, which operates on the basis of its statutes and is managed by an elected or appointed management board. In Article 2.4 an ‘association of congregations' is defined as an association of at least three congregations professing the same faith which have joined it voluntarily, which operates on the basis of its statutes and is managed by an elected or appointed management board. In Article 2.5 a ‘monastery’ is defined as a voluntary communal association of natural persons who profess the same faith, which operates on the basis of the statutes of the corresponding church or independent statutes and is managed by an elected or appointed superior of the monastery.

20 Article 4.1: ‘A religious society is a voluntary association of natural or legal persons, the main activities of which include confessional or ecumenical activities relating to morals, ethics, education, culture and confessional or ecumenical diaconial and social rehabilitation activities outside the traditional forms of religious rites of a church or congregation, and which need not be connected with a specific church, association of congregations or congregation.’ (Translation here, as of other laws, taken from the English version on the website.)

21 See for example Kiviorg (Citation2003).

22 The candidate for the office of chancellor of justice is presented by the president of the republic to parliament, which either accepts or rejects the candidate by simple majority vote. After acceptance the candidate is appointed for seven years. According to Article 139 of the Estonian constitution ‘The Chancellor of Justice shall be, in his or her activities, an independent official who shall review the legislation of the legislative and executive powers and of local governments for conformity with the Constitution and the laws.’ The chancellor is also considered to be a protector of the constitutional rights and freedoms of the people, and also has an ombudsman's functions. The activities of the chancellor of justice are regulated by the Chancellor of Justice Act (RT I, 1999, 29, 406; RT I, 2007, 16, 77).

23 An exception to these requirements is made only in the case of those religious associations whose legal status is regulated by international agreements. According to a 2004 amendment of the law (RT I, 2004, 54, 391) these religious associations shall present instead of the statute and memorandum the text of the international agreement (Chapter 3, Article 13.31). This amendment affects only the registration of the congregations and orders of the Roman Catholic Church, whose juridical status in Estonia is regulated by the 1999 agreement between the Estonian government and the Holy See (RT II, 1999, 7, 47).

24 A member of the management board must be a person with the right to vote in local government council elections (Chapter 5, Article 23.2). The right to vote in local elections is regulated by Article 5 of the Local Government Council Election Act (RT I, 2002, 36, 220; 2007, 44, 316). According to this law this right extends not only to Estonian citizens but also to citizens of the European Union (EU) who live in the municipality and whose address is entered in the population register, and also to citizens of non-EU countries who reside in Estonia on the basis of a permanent residence permit, and have legally resided in the territory of the municipality for at least five years (Article 5.2). The same requirements apply to the clergy of religious associations (Article 20.1). According to Article 20.2 a religious association may invite clergy from abroad in accordance with the Aliens Act (RT I, 1993, 44, 637).

25 However, ministers of religion do not have the right to refuse to give testimony if their testimony is requested by the suspect or the accused of a criminal offence (Article 72.3).

26 The majority of Estonian legal acts are available in English translation from the website www.legaltext.ee/indexen.htm

27 See the results of the 2000 National Census on the website of the statistics office, www.stat.ee

28 The post of chief chaplain is not attached to any particular denomination or religious association, but the holder must be an ordained minister of a legally recognised religious association. The chief chaplain is required to have the military rank of officer and is employed on the same basis as other regular members of the armed forces. The chief chaplain is appointed by the commander of the Estonian defence forces. The chief chaplain of prisons is a staff member of the prisons department of the Ministry of Justice, and the chief chaplain of police is appointed by the national police commissioner.

29 Statistics are available on line from the Statistical Office of Estonia at www.stat.ee, and from the Lithuanian Department of Statistics at www.stad.gov.lt (both last accessed 3 February 2008).

30 In September 1991 the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Republic, which had re-established the independence of Estonia from the Soviet Union, formed the Constitutional Assembly to draft a constitution. The assembly met from September 1991 to April 1992. On 28 June the new constitution was adopted by a national referendum.

31 One example which shows the different impact of religious associations on the legislative system in the different Baltic States is the issue of taxation of clergy salaries. While in Lithuania they are tax-free, in Estonia they are taxed.

32 On the Hudson Centers's forthcoming report for 2007 seehttp://crf.hudson.org/articledocs/PowerpointPresentationbyPaulMarshall.ppt (last accessed 4 February 2008).

33 For the 2007 annual report see http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90173.htm (last accessed 4 February 2008).

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