Collective and institutional aspects of the freedom of religion in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

Freedom of religion is becoming increasingly important in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Although the historical centre of gravity of this fundamental right lies in its individual dimension, judges are frequently confronted with institutional or communal aspects of freedom of religion: the rights of religious groups as such. Within the scope of the search for the premises of this freedom, chapter 1 explains the specific contributions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in this respect. The principal instruments of international law, both universal and European, as well as the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union are discussed in chapter 2 in terms of collective and institutional religious freedom as the background necessary to the Strasbourg Court's activities. Chapter 3 examines article 9 of the ECHR as well as other articles protecting any rights related to freedom of religion and subsequently addresses the notion of religious groups, whose distinction from (dangerous) sects is often problematic. The two final chapters are dedicated to a systematic examination of the case law of the Strasbourg Court since the admission in 1979 of the first application by an applicant church. The procedural aspect and the substantive rights are discussed successively. Their contents will be analysed on the basis of a double axis: firstly a group's freedom to exist, secondly the more numerous aspects of its freedom to act or its autonomy.