E/CN.4/1998/6/Add.2 page 6 optional. An exception to the Constitution is therefore desired in some quarters, notably in order to ensure greater neutrality of the State. However, in the Land of Brandenburg, parents of schoolchildren have initiated legal proceedings against the authorities in order to secure the establishment of religious instruction as an integral part of the curriculum, in accordance with article 7 of the Constitution. 15. The interpretation of the constitutional guarantees relating to the State in the area of religion and belief continues to attract attention and arouse discussion. 16. As has already been noted, the principle of neutrality is not equivalent to indifference on the part of the State. This is apparent through the limits on freedom of religion and belief as described in section A. According to the constitutional law in force, the mere fact that a community lays claim to a particular religion and regards itself as a religious community does not, ipso facto, create the right to exercise the freedom set forth in article 4, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Constitution. According to the German authorities, there must in fact be a religion or a religious community characterized by a spiritual basis and its external manifestation. It is for the public authorities, i.e. in the final analysis the courts, to verify the justification for challenges in the event of a dispute. The intervention of the State remains a possibility, particularly in the area of criminal proceedings when there is a suspicion of unlawful activities concealed, actually or falsely, by questions of religion or belief, since these questions do not in themselves have to be the subject of any substantive assessment. C. Constitutional guarantees specific to cults 17. As regards the status of cults, in accordance with article 140 of the Constitution (Weimar Constitution, art. 137, para. 2), a cult is granted, through the procedures in force, the status of a legal person in public law when, in the light of its statute and the size of its membership, it gives every indication of durability. Other cults acquire legal capacity in private law. 18. The status of legal person in public law gives rise to certain rights, in particular the right to levy church taxes through the services of the State and the right to tax advantages and exemptions (notably exemption from corporate tax, land tax and inheritance tax) and exemptions from regulations on costs and tariffs. The authorities emphasize that these advantages and exemptions are granted not because of the religious character of the cult, but because it serves the public interest. 19. In any application for public-law status, it is also necessary to take account of the conditions specified in article 140 of the Constitution and to ensure respect for the legal order of the State. This additional condition originates from the decision of 26 June 1997 rendered by the Federal Administrative Tribunal in the so-called Jehovah's Witnesses case. The Tribunal decided that the Jehovah's Witnesses could not be recognized as a legal person in public law. According to that decision, public-law status comprises, for the religious entities concerned, an offer of cooperation by the State, which thus grants privileges that are normally reserved for itself