
Protecția juridică a grupurilor religioase în lumina deciziei CEDO în speța Tothpal și Szabo împotriva României (2019)
The European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) recent decision in Tothpal and Szabo v. Romania, finding that the punishment of two defrocked pastors for continuing to lead their supportive congregations was in breach of Article 9 of the European Convention, rounds out that Court’s jurisprudence on religious freedom. In this article, we aim to provide a broader context for the ruling and to spell out its wider implications on religious life in Romania at the present time. To these ends, we introduce the case of Tothpal and Szabo alongside two other, recent similar ones; we analyze the latter’s circuit in domestic courts; we place the recent ECtHR decision within the frame of the Court’s religious freedom jurisprudence; and, finally, discuss the ruling’s potential impact on interpreting the provisions of Romania’s law on religious freedom.
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