FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3 ... - Giurisprudenza

FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3/2008
31. By a judgment of 23 May 1989 the Federal
Administrative Court ruled that the German Federal
Government was entitled to provide information and publish
warnings by virtue of their constitutional responsibility to
inform the public about new religious and ideological
communities and “psycho-groups” (BVerwGE 7 C 2/87, see
Judgments and Decisions of the Federal Administrative Court,
vol. 96, pp 82 et seq.). On 15 August 1989 the Federal
Constitutional Court, sitting as a bench of three judges, did not
accept the constitutional complaint of the Maharishi
Organisation (Transcendental Meditation) for adjudication,
confirming that the Federal Government was entitled to provide
information on new religious and ideological communities and
“psycho-groups” in compliance with its constitutional
obligations, namely to express opinions and submit
recommendations and warnings to the public within the limits of
the proper execution of the powers granted by the Basic Law (1
BvR 881/89).
32. In 1996 the Federal Diet (Deutscher Bundestag) charged
an expert commission to prepare a report on “so-called sects and
psycho-cults”. In its final report issued in June 1998 the
Commission of Enquiry stated that negative sentiments were
typically evoked when the term “sect” was used. However, only
a small number of the movements characterised as “sects” were
problematic. The Commission recommended that in official
statements, information leaflets or legal texts the word “sect”
not be employed in future.
THE LAW
I. AS REGARDS THE FOURTH AND FIFTH APPLICANT
ASSOCIATIONS
33. On 27 December 2005 the fourth and fifth applicant
associations, Dharmadeep Verein für ganzheitliches Leben e.V.
and Osho Meditations Center Berlin e.V., informed the Court
about their wish to withdraw their application.
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