From the Church Law Society
The 17th Annual
Conference on Church and State at the Law School of Masaryk University in Brno
Each year since 1995
at the beginning of September the Law School in Brno has hosted a full-day
scientifi c conference entitled “Church and State”; it is attended by experts
from throughout the Czech Republic and surrounding countries who focus on legal
matters of churches and their status in the state. The Church Law Review
reported on the 16th conference, which took place on 7 September
The 17th conference
took place at the Law School of Masaryk University in Brno on 6 September 2011.
Its theme this year was Legal Aspects of Church Financing.
As it is each year,
the conference was organized by the Department of Constitutional Law and
Political Science of the Law School of Masaryk University in cooperation with
the Church Law Society. There were eight presenters from the Czech Republic,
Slovakia and Austria, and 45 attendees.
In addition to being
attended by representatives of law schools, theological schools, philosophical
schools and other university schools, and the Constitutional Court and the
Supreme Administrative Court, the conference was also attended by a number of
legal practitioners, for example the ambassador of the Czech Republic to the
Holy See, representatives of the Catholic Prague Archdiocese, the Brno and Hradec
Králové Dioceses, the Prague Diocese of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, and
the leadership of the Silesian Evangelical Church AC.
The conference was
opened by JUDr. Kateřina Šimáčková, Ph.D., a justice of the Supreme Administrative
Court in Brno, the head professor of the fi elds of church law that are taught
at the Law School of Masaryk University, and the chairperson of the Brno
chapter of the Church Law Society. In her opening statements she welcomed the
participants on behalf of Professor JUDr. Jan Filip, CSc., the head of the
Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science. The conference was
chaired by JUDr. Pavel Molek, Ph.D., from the Department of Constitutional Law
and Political Science.
Professor JUDr. Jiří
Rajmund Tretera of the Law School of Charles University in Prague opened the fi
rst panel with his presentation on forms of church fi nancing and on the rules
that govern the part of fi nancing of churches and religious societies that
emanates from their own resources, or so-called self-fi nancing. He focused particularly
on the experience accumulated and the rules governing in reformation churches.
Mgr. Petr Jäger from the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science
of the Law School of Masaryk University in Brno, an assistant to a
Constitutional Court justice, discussed Economic Autonomy of Churches. Assistant
Professor Dr.iur. Wolfgang Wieshaider of the Law School of Vienna University
(Austria) presented in Czech about Church Financing – Legitimate Goals and
Avoiding Discrimination. The morning panel closed with a presentation by JCDr.
PaedDr. Jozef Marčin, Ph.D., of the Metropolitan Church Court in Košice (Slovakia),
who talked about Legal Aspects of Church Financing – Assessment of Current
Developments and Considerations de lege ferenda. The afternoon panel was opened
by Mgr. Štěpán Štastník, an assistant to a Constitutional Court justice and an
attorney with the Diocesan Church Court in Brno; he presented on the Canon Law
Possibilities and Practice of Financing of the Catholic Church. JUDr. Jakub Kříž,
of CEVRO Institute Prague, discussed Legitimate Expectations of Churches –
Their Object and Impact. JUDr. Ing. Marie Kolářová, Th.D., the Chancellor of
the Prague Archdiocese, talked about The Economic Council of the Catholic
Church – Its Role and Responsibility. JUDr. Vojtech Vladár, Ph.D., of the
Department of Roman and Church Law of the Law School of Trnava University in
Trnava (Slovakia), contributed a legal-historical presentation on The Fiscal
Politics of the Avignon Popes.
A discussion followed
each panel and continued throughout the breaks. At 4 pm JUDr. Kateřina Šimáčková,
Ph.D., thanked all conference participants and closed the successful 17th conference.
Záboj Horák