Published on 2 January 2023
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 31387/17
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH and Others
against Bulgaria
lodged on 18 April 2017
communicated on 5 December 2022
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns a refusal on the part of the national courts to register as a religious denomination the first applicant, the Orthodox Christian Church – a religious community identifying itself as Eastern Orthodox, but distancing itself from the official Orthodox church on doctrinal and political grounds. The refusal was due to the similarity of its name with that of the official Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and to the latter being considered by law as the only representative of Eastern Orthodoxy in Bulgaria. The final domestic judgment in the registration proceedings was given on 6 December 2016. The applicants – the Orthodox Christian Church itself, its head and one of its members – complain under Article 9 of the Convention, interpreted in the light of Article 11.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Has there been an interference with the applicants’ freedom of religion, within the meaning of Article 9 § 1 of the Convention, read in the light of Article 11? If so, was that interference prescribed by law and necessary in terms of Article 9 § 2?
APPENDIX
List of applicants
No.
Applicant’s Name
Year of birth/ founding
Nationality
Place of residence/ official seat
1.
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH
2016
Bulgarian
Gabrovo
2.
Hristo Petrov SABEV
1946
Bulgarian
Veliko Tarnovo
3.
Krasimir Stanchev ATANASOV
1969
Bulgarian
Sevlievo