In Kimlya v. Russia, (ECHR, Oct. 1, 2009), the European Court of Human Rights held that Russia violated Art. 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) when it refused to register the Church of Scientology in two Russian cities as a religious organizations under the country's Religions Act. Without registration, churches are essentially unable to function. Authorities refused registration because the churches failed to meet the statutory requirement that either they have existed for at least 15 years in a given Russian territory or are affiliated with a centralized religious organization.
The court noted that member states differed as to whether Scientology should be categorized as a religion. Therefore the court said it would defer to authorities of the country in question as to that issue. Russian officials held that the two churches were religious organizations. It went on to conclude that Russia's "15-year rule" violated the ECHR because it impacts only newly-formed churches that are not part of a strictly hierarchical church structure, and there is no justification for this difference in treatment. A ECHR press release summarized the decision.
