Prowadzenie działalności gospodarczej na cmentarzach wyznaniowych przez osoby prawne Kościoła katolickiego
Business Activity in Religious Cemeteries Done by Judicial Persons of the Catholic Church

Summary/Abstract: Polish legislation gives churches and other religious associations the right of ownership, management and establishment of cemeteries in compliance with the relevant legal provisions on cemeteries and burial. In principle, the state guarantees inviolability of such sites. However, judging by the decisions of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection concerning judicial persons managing cemeteries, such decisions having been upheld by antitrust jurisdiction, it transpires that religious cemeteries are affected by all applicable laws, including the Act of 16 February 2007 on competition and consumer protection. This trend in the existing case-law has been opposed by the Catholic Church representatives who raise this issue, for example, in the Joint Commission of the Representatives of the Polish Government and the Polish Episcopal Conference. The issue of conducting business activity in religious burial grounds calls for a broader elucidation, especially given diverse interpretations of the definition of an entrepreneur under the Act on competition and consumer protection.

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