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FULL TEXT of The New Law On Religion. Last Updated 12/5/2005 |
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The following is supposed to be the FULL TEXT of the new law in English.. |
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The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan“ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS”, dated January 15, 1992 with amendments, dated October 5, 1995, July 11, 1997, December 12, 2004, February 23, 2005, July 8, 2005
This Law recognizes that the Republic of Kazakhstan is a democratic secular state which respects the right of every person for freedom of beliefs, guarantees equal rights of the citizens irrespective of their religion, recognizes cultural and historical value of religions harmonizing with the spiritual heritage of peoples of Kazakhstan, and the importance of inter-confessional harmony, religious tolerance and respect to religious beliefs of the citizens.”
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Purpose of the Law
This Law guarantees the realization of citizens’ rights for religious freedom, contemplated by the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan (the “RK”) and international treaties and agreements on human rights. The enjoyment of the freedom to confess religion or spread beliefs can be limited by the legislation only for the purpose of protecting public order and safety, life, health, morality or rights and freedoms of other citizens.
Sub-article 1-1. Main concepts used in this Law
The following main concepts shall be used in this Law:
1) religious building (facility) – an object, designated for religious services, prayer and religious meetings and religious worship (pilgrimage); 2) missionary activity – preaching and spreading any religious teaching which is not stipulated in the charter of the religious association that conducts its activities on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, by means of performing religious enlightening activity; 3) authorized body on relations with religious associations (hereinafter referred to as the authorized body) – the state body responsible for relations with religious associations and appointed by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Article 2. Legislation on religious freedom and religious associations
The legislation on religious freedom and religious associations of the RK consists of this Law and other legislative acts adopted in accordance therewith. Local level governmental agencies, departments and institutions shall not be allowed to issue any regulations contradicting this Law.
Should any international treaty ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan establish any other rules than those contained in this Law, the rules of the international treaty shall be applied.
Article 3. Right for religious freedom
The citizens of the RK, citizens of other countries and stateless persons have the right to individually or collectively confess any religion or confess no religion; no force used for making someone determine his attitude towards religion, participate or not participate in religious services, religious rites and ceremonies, or study a religion shall be allowed.
The citizens of the RK shall be equal before the law in all spheres: economic, political, social, cultural, despite their attitude towards the religion. Direct or implied setting of limitations on or preferences of citizens depending on their attitude towards religion, or stirring up enmity and hatred in connection therewith, or offending of citizens’ feelings, or offending any religion’s items, buildings or places, shall entail liability established by the legislation of the RK.
No one has the right to reject the performance of his civil obligations on the basis of his religious convictions, except cases provided for by the legislation.
Substitution of one obligation with another on the basis of religious convictions shall be allowed only in accordance with the legislation of the RK.
Article 4. The state and religious associations
Religious associations are separated from the state. All religions and religious associations shall be equal before the law. No religion or religious association shall enjoy preferences over others. Religious associations shall not perform any of the state’s functions and the state shall not interfere into activities of religious associations if such activities do not contradict the legislation. The state shall not fund religious associations.
Religious associations shall not participate in elections of state agencies and representative bodies. No parties or any other political associations of religious nature, as well as participation of religious associations in political parties and funding of political parties by religious associations shall be allowed. Ministers of religious associations may participate in political life only on their own behalf and on the same basis as others.
Religious associations shall comply with requirements of the legislation and shall sustain legal order. The state ensures the establishment of relations of mutual tolerance and respect between citizens who confess any religion and citizens who confess no religion, as well as between various religious associations.
Activity of religious associations that are not duly registered in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan is not allowed.
Establishment and activity of religious associations aiming their actions and objectives to appoint superiority of one religion in the state, to kindle religious enmity or separation including those connected with violence or appeals to violence, are prohibited.
Propaganda of religious extremism and also commitment of actions aimed to use inter-confessional differences in political purposes are prohibited.
The state shall have a right to conduct a religious expertise (Kevin’s note: "expertise" should have been translated as: evaluation, appraisal, or analysis.) on the basis established by the legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The religious expertise shall be conducted with participation of representatives of religious organizations, public associations, state bodies, religious experts, lawyers, and other experts in sphere of right to freedom of conscience.
Order of conducting the religious expertise shall be determined by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Sub-article 4–1. Missionary activity
Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, foreign citizens and stateless persons (hereinafter referred to as “missionaries”) shall perform the missionary activity on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan after obtaining due registration.
Fulfillment of missionary activity without the reporting registration is prohibited.
Sub-article 4–2. The Reporting Registration of Persons Conducting Missionary activity
The reporting registration of persons conducting missionary activity shall be performed by local executive bodies. Missionaries residing on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall re-register with the local executive bodies annually.
In order to obtain reporting registration missionaries shall submit the following documents and materials to the local executive bodies: 1) an application with indication of religion they belong to, territory and period of missionary activity; 2) a copy of power of attorney or another document issued by religious association granting the right to fulfill missionary activity; 3) a copy of certificate of registration or another document certifying that the religious association represented by the missionary is officially registered in compliance with the legislation of his or her country; 4) invitation by religious association registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan; 5) literature, audio/video materials and/or other items of religious application designated for missionary activity. Additional usage of the materials of religious contents after the missionary’s reporting registration shall be conformed with the local executive bodies. At submission of the above mentioned documents the applicant shall show his/her passport or another duly registered document identifying the applicant. The reporting registration of persons conducting missionary activity shall be completed by the local executive body within the period not exceeding seven days from the submission date.”
Article 5. Separation of schools from religious associations and the secular nature of the state education
The Republic’s state system of education and bringing up is separated from religious associations and shall have secular nature.
Parents or any individuals substituting them have the right to bring up their children in accordance with their beliefs, however, no forced measures on involving children into religion are allowed. Religious upbringing of a child shall not cause harm to his physical, mental health and moral development.”
Citizens studying full time in higher and
secondary religious educational institutions shall enjoy rights and
preferences with respect to postponement of military draft,
Sub-article 6-1. Authority of the
authorized
The authorized 1) shall participate in formation and implementation of major sectors of the state policy in area of securing the citizens’ rights for freedom of faith as well as in area of interaction with religious associations;
2)
shall study and analyze activities of religious associations
founded on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 3) shall hold informative/propaganda activities on issues connected to its authority; 4) shall carry out explanatory work on issues of the state policy in the area of securing citizens’ rights for the freedom of faith; 5) shall develop proposals on perfection of the Republic of Kazakhstan legislation regulating the issues of securing the citizens’ rights for freedom of faith; 6) shall co-ordinate activities of local executive bodies of the region [oblast] (city of republican scale or the capital city) in area of supervision over relations with religious associations; 7) shall provide performance of religious expertise (Kevin’s note: "expertise" should have been translated as: evaluation, appraisal, or analysis.) with involvement of representatives from religious associations, public associations, state agencies, experts on religion, lawyers and other specialists in the field of the freedom of consciousness right; 8) shall consider issues regarding violation of the Republic of Kazakhstan legislation on the freedom of faith and on religious associations; 9) shall establish and sustain international contacts with respective agencies of other states; 10) shall make suggestions to law-enforcement bodies on prohibition of activities of individuals and legal entities including religious associations that violate legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan; 11) shall give official explanations on issues connected to its authority.
Sub-article 6-2. Authority of local executive bodies of regions [oblast] (cities of republican scale, the capital), districts (towns of local scale) in sphere of supervision over relations with religious associations Local executive bodies of regions [oblast] (cities of republican scale, the capital), districts (towns of local scale) shall bear the following responsibilities in sphere of supervision over relations with religious associations: 1) study and analysis of religious situation in the region;
2)
reporting registration and
re-registration of
3)
making decisions to the authorized agency 4) perform informative/propaganda activities of the regional level on the issues of their authority.
CHAPTER 2. RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS IN THE RK
Article 7. Religious associations
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In the RK local religious associations (communities), religious
departments (centers)
Voluntary associations of citizens, which are created for the purpose of joint satisfaction of religious interests and needs, are recognized as local religious associations (communities) in the RK.
Religious departments (centers) have the right to establish, in accordance with their charters (bylaws), religious educational institutions, monasteries and other religious associations which may operate on the basis of their own charters (bylaws).
Religious associations in the RK, which have their management centers located outside the territory of the Republic, may operate on the basis of such centers’ charters (bylaws), provided that such charters (bylaws) are registered in the RK in the Ministry of Justice and comply with the laws of the RK.
Article 8. Charter (bylaws) of religious association
Religious association shall perform its activity on the basis of a charter (bylaws), which shall contain the following information:
- name, location of a religious association and the territory of its activities; - denominational identification, subject and purposes of activities; - structure of a religious association, formation procedure, authority and terms of authority of its management bodies; - rights and obligations of a religious association; - procedure of formation of a religious association’s property; - procedure for introducing amendments and additions to the religious association’s charter; - procedure for reorganization and liquidation of a religious association. The charter of a religious association shall not contain any provisions, which contradict the Constitution of the RK and the existing legislation of the RK.
Article 9. Registration of religious associations
Religious associations shall be created on the basis of application by no less than 10 legal age citizens. For this purpose they shall call a meeting, wherein the charter (bylaws) will be adopted. Religious association has the legal capacity from the moment of its state registration. The state registration of religious departments (centers), religious associations operating on the territory of two or more oblasts of the Republic, as well as religious educational institutions, monasteries and other organizations founded by them, shall be performed by the Ministry of Justice of the RK; and the state registration of local religious associations shall be performed by the territorial departments of the Ministry of Justice. The state and reporting registration, re-registration, and denial of registration shall be performed in order and within terms contemplated by the existing legislation. The term of the state registration may be suspended if there is a necessity for conducting religious or any other expertise, as well as for obtaining an opinion of a specialist about the documents submitted by a religious association.
Sub-article 10-1. Suspension of the Religious Association’s Activities
1. Activities of a religious association may be suspended on the basis of a court decision for the period of three to six months in the following cases: 1) violation of the Republic of Kazakhstan legislation 2) performance of activities contradicting the charter (bylaws) of the religious association 2. During the period of suspension of the religious association’s activity, such association is prohibited to appear in mass-media, to organize and hold meetings and other public presentations on its behalf; performance of operations with bank accounts of the religious association shall also be suspended except settlement of labor agreements, reimbursement of losses caused by its activities, and payment of fines. 3. Should the violations be eliminated within the period of suspension of such religious association’s activities, the religious association may resume its activities. 4. The fact of elimination of violations by religious association shall be ascertained by the court that made the decision on suspension of the religious association’s activities.
Article 11. Reorganization and Liquidation of a Religious Association
1. Reorganization of a religious association (fusion, integration, division, separation, transformation) shall be done under the decision of its superior management body located on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan in compliance with the procedure provided in legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan and in the charter (bylaws) of the religious association or under a decision of court. 2. Registration of a religious association repeatedly founded after reorganization shall be performed in the order set by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 3. A religious association may be liquidated under a decision of: 1) its superior body; 2) court. 4. Liquidation of a religious organization shall be done by a liquidation commission appointed by the superior management body or by court in order set by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 5. The religious association may be liquidated under a court decision in the cases of: 1) non-fulfillment of requirements of this law; 2) failure to eliminate violations that caused the suspension of the religious association’s activities within the period set by the court; 3) systematic practice of activities contradicting the charter (bylaws) of the religious association; 4) practice of activities prohibited by legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan or with repeated (not less than two times) or gross violation of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan; 5) recognition of the religious association’s state registration as invalid due to violations of the legislation that were committed at its foundation and cannot be eliminated, or cancellation of the religious association’s state registration; 6) in other cases provided in the legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
CHAPTER 3. RIGHTS OF RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND CITIZENS’ RIGHTS RELATED TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Article 12. Religious rites and ceremonies
Religious associations have the right to found and maintain religious service facilities open for public access, as well as places honored by followers of any religion (pilgrimage places, etc.).
Religious services, religious rites and ceremonies may, without any hindrance, be held at religious facilities’ territory, places of pilgrimage, in institutions belonging to religious associations, cemeteries and crematoriums, and at individuals’ houses and apartments.
Citizens have the right to perform and participate in religious rites and ceremonies in military camps, hospitals, clinics for handicapped and retired people, prisons for temporary and permanent imprisonment. The heads of military units and administrations of the aforementioned institutions shall ensure the realization of citizens rights to religious freedom and shall assist in inviting of religious ministers, setting time, location, and other details for holding a religious service, rite or ceremony.
In other cases public religious services, religious rites and ceremonies shall be performed in the order established for holding meetings, demonstrations and marches.
Article 13. Religious literature and items of religious use
Religious associations and citizens have the right to acquire and use religious literature, as well as other items and materials of religious use at their own discretion.
Religious associations have the right to publish, manufacture, export, import and distribute items of religious use, religious literature and other informational materials of religious content.
Religious associations shall enjoy the exclusive right to found enterprises for publishing religious literature and manufacturing of issues (Kevin’s note: “issues” should have been translated “items”.) for religious use.
Other institutions and organizations may perform such activity only upon the approval by respective religious associations, departments and centers.
The publishing of periodic editions of religious nature and other religious literature, which is not intended for religious services, shall be performed in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Religious associations have the right to use mass media on the same basis as public associations.
Religious literature and other printed materials of religious content issued by a religious association shall have its full official name on them.
Article 14. Charity and cultural informational activity
Within their structure religious associations may create societies, fellowships, and other associations of citizens for the purposes of charity, studying and spreading of religious literature and other cultural informative activity. Such associations may have their own charters (bylaws).
Religious associations may voluntarily unite in bigger associations (unions).
Religious associations have the right to perform charity and mercy activities both through public funds and independently, as well as to found charity institutions (orphanages, asylums, hospitals, etc.).
Article 15. International relations and contactsof believers and religious associations
Citizens and religious associations have the right to collectively or individually establish and maintain international relations and personal contacts, including trips abroad for pilgrimage, participation in meetings and other religious events.
Religious associations may send the citizens abroad for studying in religious educational institutions and accept foreign citizens for the same purpose.
CHAPTER 4. PROPERTY, LABOR AND FINANCIAL RELATIONS OF RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS
Article 16. Property of religious associations
Religious associations can possess such property as buildings, religious items, assets for manufacturing, social and charity purposes, money and other property necessary for their activities.
Religious associations have property rights for any property acquired or created by them at their own expense, donated by citizens, associations or transferred by the state and acquired on any other basis not forbidden by the legislation.
Religious associations may also possess property in other countries.
Religious associations have the right to request voluntary financial and other offerings and receive them.
Property rights of religious associations shall be protected by the law.
Article 17. Use of property belonging to the state, public associations and citizens
Religious associations can use buildings, territory and property, which are provided to them on contractual basis by the state, public associations and citizens.
Local executive bodies of oblasts (cities of republican scale, the capital) have the right to grant or give religious buildings and other property owned by the state for ownership or free use to religious associations. Religious associations have the preemptive right to accept religious buildings with adjacent territories.
The transfer to religious associations and the use by religious associations of objects and items, which are considered to be historical and cultural memorials, shall be performed in accordance with the legislation. The order for maintaining the aforementioned objects by the religious associations shall be approved with the respective state agencies. The state may render material assistance for renovating religious buildings, which represent historical or cultural value.
Religious associations may possess and use land in accordance with the legislation.
Article 18. Manufacturing and business activities of religious associations
Religious associations have the right to establish publishing, printing, manufacturing, construction (renovation), agricultural and other businesses having the right of a legal entity in accordance with the legislation and their charters (bylaws).
Article 19. Disposal of the liquidated religious association’s property
The disposal of the liquidated religious association’s property shall be performed in accordance with its charter (bylaws) and the existing legislation.
At cessation of activities of a religious association the disposal of its property shall be performed in accordance with its charter (bylaws) and the existing legislation.
The property of religious use belonging to religious associations can not be confiscated in favor of creditors.
Should there be no legal assigns of a religious association, its property becomes the property of the state.
Article 20. Labor relations of citizens in religious associations, its businesses and institutions
Religious associations and any businesses and institutions founded by them have the right to hire citizens as employees and workers with the mandatory conclusion of written labor contract.
Conditions, order and size of salaries shall be agreed upon between the religious association and the citizen and shall be specified in the labor contract.
Citizens working for religious associations, its businesses and institutions under labor contracts shall be subject to labor legislation and shall be subject to taxes in the same way as workers and employees of the state and public enterprises, institutions and organizations.
Article 21. Social benefits and social insurance of citizens working forreligious associations, its businesses and institutions
Citizens, including religious ministers, working for religious associations, its businesses and institutions, shall be subject to social welfare, social insurance on the same basis as employees and workers of the state and public enterprises, institutions and organizations.
For such purposes religious associations, its businesses and institutions shall make payments to the funds of the state social welfare and insurance in order and at rates established for businesses of public associations.
All citizens working for religious associations, its businesses and institutions shall be given and paid the state pensions on the general basis in accordance with the legislation. The work in religious associations, its businesses and institutions prior to the establishment of the social insurance and the factual payment of insurance contributions shall be recorded as work experience for the calculation of pensions, despite whether social taxes were paid or not.
CHAPTER 5. CONTROL OVER THE COMPLIANCE WITH THE LEGISLATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS AND THE LIABILITY FOR THE VIOLATION THEREOF
Article 22. Control over the compliance with the legislation on religious freedom and religious associations
The control over the compliance with the legislation on religious freedom and religious associations shall be exercised by executive bodies of the government and the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in accordance with their authority specified by the legislation.
Article 23. Liability for the violation of the legislation on religious freedom and religious associations
Officers and citizens charged with the violation of the legislation on religious freedom and religious associations shall bear the liability contemplated by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan |
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