he Administrative Court in Frankfurt, Germany decided, on 4 September 1990:

The classification of the plaintiff as a religious or ideological community which is confirmed by recent jurisprudence as well as in the legal expertises presented by [the Mission] cannot be objected to with the argument that the tenets of the Church of Scientology lack a dogmatically fixed “classical” creed like the Christian one nor that it lacks sufficient plausibility or seriousness. The first can be eliminated because the freedom of religion of Article 4 Constitution is not only granted to the recognized churches and religious communities but also other religious and ideological communities which conform to the constitutional requirements of a religious or ideological community.

The second objection neglects that the Constitution prohibits an evaluation of religion of ideology respective of its institutional personification based on subjective impression and viewpoints...

There are, in addition to these, a number of decisions and rulings confirming or upholding the religious bona fides in countries as diverse as Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. These additional decisions and rulings involve matters of equal diversity, including recognition of the right to marry; income, property or VAT exemptions and, religious registration and immigration.

Copies of these court decisions and other documents are generally available.


For further information contact:

Office of the President
Church of Scientology International
6331 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 1200
Los Angeles, CA 90028-6329
United States of America