Religious communities' right to self-determination and the prevention of abuse of power

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Ute Sacksofsky
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology ; Public Law
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 534685649

The project examines the extent to which the state may or has to exert influence on religious communities to prevent abuse of power. While the prevention of abuse of power by state bodies is indisputably a foundation of the liberal constitutional state, it is unclear to what extent the prevention of abuse of power by private individuals also constitutes a state task. In this respect, two constitutional principles are central. On the one hand, fundamental rights contain not only rights of defence against state action, but also, as is nowadays recognized, duties to protect: The state is fundamentally obliged to protect against violations of physical integrity by private individuals. On the other hand, however, the right of self-determination of religious communities is guaranteed by the constitution. The right to “organize” and “administer” their affairs “independently”, as Art. 140 GG in conjunction with Art. 137 III 1 WRV formulates, is directed precisely against state interference. The project analyzes how these two opposing constitutional principles relate to each other with regard to the prevention of abuse of power in religious communities.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5778: Power and Abuse in the Roman Catholic Church - Interdisciplinary Critique and Analysis