A/HRC/4/21/Add.1 page 37 led to some improvement in this regard, there have been reports of children being baptised by Orthodox priests without the prior permission of their parents. Response from the Government sent on 16 March 2006 147. The Government of Georgia informed that their Law on Education prohibits mandatory religious instruction. Nevertheless, the practice of compulsory teaching of Orthodox Christianity takes place at some state-financed schools. It has sometimes been alleged that children have been baptized by Orthodox priests without parental consent, but it should be stressed that the Ministry of Education and Sciences of Georgia has no official information about that. 148. According to the National Education Plan of Georgia, the subject “Religion and Culture” is taught as an optional one at schools and it is not designed to teach a specific religion, but aims to introduce different religions and beliefs to the children. The Ministry of Education and Sciences of Georgia has no official data on studying a particular religion, but there is unofficial and indirect information about the existence of such practice at several schools. 149. Regarding to legal measures, the Law on General Education of Georgia, adopted in April 2005, protects the freedom of religion and belief among schoolchildren and restricts the propagation of any concrete religion, inter alia, by prohibiting classes aimed at learning religious rites and related items, as well as studying a specific religion at school time. 150. With respect to the question concerning the registration requirement in order to be able to worship the Government informed that the legal background for that may be found in article 1510 of the Civil Code of Georgia. That article provides the criteria for registration, which has to be done for all non-commercial and non-partisan legal persons. The documents to be presented are administrative documents. There is a fee to be paid after the presentation of the mentioned documents in the Georgian Civil Code. All religious groups in Georgia have to meet, on an equal basis, all the criteria provided in the Civil Code. It is the Ministry of Justice which responds to the applications. Article 31 of the Georgian Civil Code stipulates that a refusal from the Ministry of Justice must be well-grounded and can be appealed before the court. Observations 151. The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the Government’s detailed response. She would also like to take the opportunity to refer to her framework for communications, more specifically to the international human rights norms and to the mandate practice concerning “The right of parents to ensure the religious and moral education of their children” (see above para. 1, category I. 3. g). Furthermore, the previous mandate holder, Abdelfattah Amor, prepared a thematic study on “The role of religious education in the pursuit of tolerance and non-discrimination” (available online at http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/cfedu-basicdoc.htm). In November 2001, the International Consultative Conference on School Education in Relation to Freedom of Religion or Belief, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination by consensus adopted a Final Document (E/CN.4/2002/73, Appendix). This Madrid Final Document may serve as useful guidance for educational policies aimed at strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights, eradicating prejudices and conceptions incompatible with freedom of religion or belief, and ensuring respect for and acceptance of pluralism and diversity in the field of religion or belief as well as the right not to receive religious instruction inconsistent with his or her conviction.