Church of Scientology Reply to the German Government’s Defense of its Discrimination
For further information contact:
Leisa Goodman
(323) 960-3500
e-mail: humanrightsofficer@scientology.org
Church of Scientology Reply to the German Government’s Defense of its Discrimination
GERMAN GOVERNMENT: “The Federal Labor Court ruled that a church of Scientology was not a religious congregation, but clearly a commercial enterprise.”
FACT: The issue of religiosity is not the province of the Labor Courts but of the Administrative Courts. As mentioned, the Federal Supreme Administrative Court ruled in November 1997 that a Scientology Mission could not be considered a commercial activity.
The Federal Labor Court’s March 1995 interim decision was not a judgement and has no precedential value. It relied on and quoted a defective decision of a lower tax Court which has subsequently been overturned by the Federal Supreme Tax Court. It was also a violation of due process. The Church of Scientology was denied the opportunity to proffer its own evidence on its bona fides. The Court made factual assumptions based on a review of publications that the Church was not provided an opportunity to comment upon, and the discussion of Scientology’s religious nature in the decision was gratuitous as it was not an issue before the Court.
These legal defects explain why the March 1995 Federal Labor Court interim decision is not even referred to or relied upon as precedent by either the Federal Supreme Administrative Court or the Federal Supreme Tax Court in their decisions.
Continued...
For further information contact:
Leisa Goodman
(323) 960-3500
e-mail: humanrightsofficer@scientology.org