The European Court of Human Rights has delivered its decision in the case of Supreme Religious Administration of All Muslims of Georgia v. Georgia.

The Court fully endorsed the legal position presented by the Ministry of Justice, found the applicant organization’s complaint manifestly ill-founded and unanimously declared it inadmissible.

The case concerned the allocation of funding to the Diocese of Marneuli and Hujabi from the 2022 budget of Marneuli Municipality. The applicant organization alleged that the allocation of municipal funds exclusively to the Diocese constituted discrimination on religious grounds.

In its submissions to the Court, the Government argued that the applicant organization and the Diocese were not in comparable situations. It emphasized the constitutional status of the Orthodox Church, as recognized by the Constitution and the Constitutional Agreement, as well as its historical and cultural role and the number of its parishioners and religious buildings. The Government therefore maintained that the funding in question was not discriminatory.

In its examination, the Court noted that the allocation of municipal budget funds to religious organizations fell within the discretionary powers of local authorities. It observed that 55 churches and monasteries in Marneuli Municipality, designated as cultural heritage sites, belonged to the Georgian Orthodox Church and were administered by the Diocese of Marneuli and Hujabi, which was responsible for their maintenance and preservation. Two mosques in the municipality held the same cultural heritage status. However, the applicant organization had failed to demonstrate that it owned or administered either mosque, or that it was responsible for their upkeep. The Court endorsed the assessment of the domestic courts that the applicant organization had neither a legal nor a factual connection with these properties.

In light of these differences, the Court endorsed the position of the Ministry of Justice and concluded that the Supreme Religious Administration of All Muslims of Georgia and the Diocese were not in analogous situations with regard to the allocation of funding. In the Court’s view, this conclusion was unaffected by the religious composition of the municipality’s population or by the fact that both organizations engaged in religious activities. Consequently, the Court found the discrimination complaint manifestly ill-founded and declared it inadmissible.