Ministry of Justice: Strasbourg Court declares complaint against Georgia over religious discrimination inadmissible

According to the Ministry, the Court fully endorsed the legal position presented by the Ministry of Justice, found the applicant’s complaint manifestly ill-founded and unanimously declared it inadmissible.

“The case concerned the allocation of funding to the Marneuli and Hujabi Eparchy from the 2022 budget of Marneuli Municipality. The applicant organisation argued that allocating local budget funds exclusively to the Eparchy constituted religious discrimination.

In its submissions to the Strasbourg Court, the Government argued that the applicant organisation and the Eparchy were not in comparable situations. In this regard, the Government emphasised the status of the Orthodox Church, as recognised by the Constitution and the Constitutional Agreement, its historical and cultural role, as well as the number of its parishioners and religious buildings. Accordingly, the Government maintained that the disputed funding was not discriminatory.

In its assessment of the case, the Strasbourg Court noted that the allocation of municipal budget funds to religious organisations falls within the discretionary powers of municipalities. The Court highlighted that 55 churches and monasteries in Marneuli Municipality, designated as cultural heritage sites, belonged to the Georgian Orthodox Church and were under the administration of the Marneuli and Hujabi Eparchy. The responsibility for maintaining and preserving this Christian cultural heritage rested with the Eparchy.

There were also two mosques in the municipality with the same cultural heritage status. However, the applicant organisation failed to establish that it owned, managed or was responsible for maintaining either of them.

The European Court agreed with the assessment of the domestic courts that the applicant organisation had neither a legal nor a factual connection with these sites.

Taking these differences into account, the European Court fully endorsed the position of the Ministry of Justice and concluded that the Supreme Religious Administration of All Muslims in Georgia and the Eparchy were not in comparable situations with regard to the allocation of funding. In the Court’s view, neither the religious composition of the municipality’s population nor the fact that both organisations engaged in religious activities could alter this conclusion.

Consequently, the Strasbourg Court found the discrimination complaint manifestly ill-founded and declared it inadmissible,” the Ministry of Justice said.