E/CN.4/1995/91/Add.1
page 67
Similarly, the draft states that ’any public use which may be made
of names, outward signs or emblems commonly associated with a church or
denomination, other than that for which it is intended, is also not
protected, except where the party concerned gives its express consent’.
The law thus excludes from its scope any misuse of signs, giving another
legal argument to anyone who institutes proceedings to enforce such a
right.
Chapter II of the draft law deals with relations between the State
and the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church, calling for them to be governed,
as is currently the case, by the principles of autonomy and cooperation
set forth in the agreement signed between the Holy See and the Argentine
Republic on 10 October 1966 and confirmed by Act No. 17032.
The registry of churches and denominations is the subject of
Chapter III, in which substantive reforms are proposed to current
legislation, which was basically limited to reproducing the provisions of
Decrees Nos. 1127/59, 3446/62 and 7110/63.
Article 7, which states that ’Churches, religious communities and
denominations have legal personality in their own right, once they are
listed in the registry maintained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Worship’, is important because of its innovative nature. It also
stipulates that ’being listed in the registry is optional’ and that
’not being listed does not prevent the entity in question from enjoying
freedom of association, its members from exercising the rights to which
they are entitled by this law or the State from exercising its policing
power’.
The draft law completely modifies the existing regime, which, under
the provisions of Act No. 21745 and Regulatory Decree No. 2037/79,
requires all religious organizations active in the country to be listed.
Being listed in the registry must not only precede any activity, but is a
requirement for recognition by the State and a condition for the granting
of legal personality or the founding and existence of the association as
a subject at law, thus immediately leading to the conclusion that
recognition by the State is tantamount to founding and that only those
groups which are recognized and listed in the registry are authorized in
the national territory.
In the draft law, by contrast, being listed in the registry goes
hand in hand with the granting of legal personality within the meaning of
article 33, paragraph 3, of the Civil Code. The optional nature of the
listing process, and the right not to be listed, which derives from it,
do not mean that worship is prohibited, but simply that congregations and
ministers are regarded as groups of persons exercising their right to
religious freedom - and this does not exempt them from the exercise by
the State of its policing power.
Article 8 sets forth guidelines to be followed by the Executive in
drafting regulations on the registry. In material terms, the church or
religious community asking to be listed must meet at least one of the
following requirements: (a) demonstrate that it is present in at least