Fernandez Martinez protiv Španije

Država na koju se presuda odnosi
Španija
Institucija
Evropski sud za ljudska prava
Broj predstavke
56030/07
Stepen važnosti
Referentni slučaj
Jezik
Bosanski
Datum
12.06.2014
Članovi
8
8-1
8-2
9
9-1
10
10-1
11
11-1
Kršenje
nije relevantno
Nekršenje
8
8-1
Ključne reči po HUDOC/UN
(Čl. 8) Pravo na poštovanje privatnog i porodičnog života
(Čl. 8-1) Poštovanje privatnog života
(Čl. 8-2) Mešanje
(Čl. 8-2) Neophodno u demokratskom društvu
(Čl. 8-2) Zaštita prava i sloboda drugih
(Čl. 8-2) U skladu sa zakonom
(Čl. 9) Sloboda misli, savesti i veroispovesti
(Čl. 9-1) Sloboda veroispovesti
(Čl. 10) Sloboda izražavanja - Opšta
(Čl. 10-1 / ICCPR-19) Sloboda izražavanja
(Čl. 11) Sloboda okupljanja i udruživanja
(Čl. 11-1) Sloboda udruživanja
Unutrašnje polje slobodne procene
Srazmernost
Tematske ključne reči
VS deskriptori
Zbirke
Sudska praksa
Presuda ESLJP
Veliko veće
Sažetak
Postupak u ovom predmetu je pokrenut predstavkom protiv Kraljevine Španije, koju je Sudu podneo španski državljanin g. Antonio Fernandez Martinez (podnosilac predstavke), početkom decembra 2007.g. Podnosiocu je dodeljena pravna pomoć.

On se pozvao na povredu člana 8 Konvencije uzetog zasebno i u vezi sa članom 14 Konvencije. Tvrdio je da je neobnavljanje njegovog ugovora o radu na mestu nastavnika katoličke veronauke i etike, u državnoj srednjoj školi, predstavljalo neopravdano mešanje u njegovo pravo na privatni život. Javna rasprava je održana u Palati ljudskih prava u Strazburu, krajem januara 2013.godine.

Podnositelj predstavke je rođen 1937.g., oženjen je i otac je petoro dece. Zaredio se za sveštenika 1961.g. godine 1984. podneo je zahtev Vatikanu za oslobađanje od obaveze celibata. Nije dobio odgovor, a naredne godine je zaključio brak. Od oktobra 1991.g. bio je zaposlen kao nastavnik katoličke veronauke i etike u državnoj školi. Krajem avgusta 1997.g. papa je usvoji zahtev podnosioca za oslobađanjem od celibata. Time je izgubio crkvene počasti i funkcije. U reskriptu je navedeno i da ne može više da predaje katoličku veronauku u javnim institucijama, osim ako lokalni biskup odluči drugačije za niže školske razrede. Nakon što je podnosiocu odbijena žalba u upravnom postupku protiv odluke ministra o okončanju radnog odnosa, podnosilac je uložio žalbu upravnom sudu, ali ju je isti odbio. Radni sud je proglasio rešenje o otkazu ništavim i naložio njegov povratak na radno mesto, kao i da mu država isplati neisplaćenu zaradu.Visoki sud je usvojio žalbu Ministarstva obrazovanja. Nadaje, podnosilac je bio nezadovoljan odlukom Ustavnog suda.

NAVODNA POVREDA ČLANA 8 KONVENCIJE
- Svako ima pravo na poštovanje svog privatnog i porodičnog života, doma i prepiske.
Ovaj slučaj se može posmatrati i u vezi sa članovima 9, 10 i 11 Konvencije. Veće je zaključilo da su nadležni domaći sudovi uspostavili pravičnu ravnotežu između različitih privatnih interesa i da član 8 Konvencije nije prekršen.
Stav Velikog veća: prema sudskoj praksi, ne postoji principijelni razlog da se smatra da pojam „privatnog života“ isključuje pojam profesionalne aktivnosti.
- U pogledu postojanja mešanja – postipanje javnih vlasti je predstavljalo mešanje u pravo podnosioca na poštovanje njegovog privatnog života.
- U skladu sa zakonom – (osporena mera zasnovana je na domaćem zakonu) – osporeno mišljenje je bilo u skladu sa zakonom.
- Legitimni cilj – Sud smatra da je predmetna odluka o neobnavljanju ugovora o radu sledila legitimni cilj zaštite prava i sloboda drugih, naime onih Katoličke crkve, a naročito u pogledu izbora osoba koje su podobne da predaju religijsku doktrinu.
- Neophodno u demokratskom društvu–Sud ističe da nije podnosilac taj koji je sam objavio članak o svojim stanovištima i o svom privatnom životu, nego novinar, koji je objavio i fotografiju podnosioca i njegove porodice. Prema mišljenju Suda, nije nerealno da neka Crkva ili religijska organizacija očekuje posebnu lojalnost od nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja, obzirom da ih može smatrati svojim predstavnicima. Mešanje Države nije bilo disproporcionalno.
Dakle, nije došlo do povrede člana 8 Konvencije (9:8).
Izdvojena mišljenja na Hudoc-u.

Preuzmite presudu u pdf formatu

 EVROPSKI SUD ZA LJUDSKA PRAVA  

VELIKO VIJEĆE

PREDMET FERNÁNDEZ MARTÍNEZ protiv ŠPANIJE

(Predstavka broj 56030/07)

PRESUDA

[Izvodi]

STRASBOURG

12. juni 2014. godine

Ova presuda je konačna, ali može biti predmet redakcijskih izmjena.

U predmetu Fernández Martínez protiv Španije, Evropski sud za ljudska prava, zasijedajući u Velikom vijeću u sljedećem sastavu:

Dean Spielmann, predsjednik,
Guido Raimondi,
Mark Villiger,
Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre,
Ján Šikuta,
George Nicolaou,
András Sajó,
Ann Power-Forde,
IşılKarakaş,
Angelika Nußberger,
André Potocki,
Paul Lemmens,
Helena Jäderblom,
Valeriu Griţco,
Faris Vehabović,
Dmitry Dedov, sudije,
Alejandro Saiz Arnaiz, ad hoc sudija,
i Johan Callewaert, zamjenik registrara Velikog vijeća,

nakon vijećanja zatvorenog za javnost, koje je održano 30. januara 2013. godine i 2. aprila 2014. godine, donosi sljedeću presudu, koja je usvojena posljednjeg pomenutog dana:

POSTUPAK

  1. Postupak u ovom predmetu je pokrenut predstavkom (broj 56030/07) koju je Sudu podnio španski državljanin, gosp. Antonio Fernández Martínez (podnositelj predstavke), protiv Kraljevine Španije na osnovu člana 34. Konvencije za zaštitu ljudskih prava i osnovnih sloboda (Konvencija) 11. decembra 2007. godine.
  2. Podnositelja predstavke, kojem je dodijeljena pravna pomoć, je zastupao gosp. J. L. Mazón Costa, advokat iz Mursije. Špansku vladu (Vlada) su zastupali gosp. I. Blasco Lozano, gosp. F. Irurzun Montoro i gosp. F. de A. Sanz Gandasegui, državni pravobranitelji.
  3. Pozivajući se na član 8, neovisno o članu 14. i u vezi s njim, podnositelj predstavke je istakao da je neobnavljanje njegovog ugovora o radnom odnosu na mjestu nastavnika katoličke vjeronauke i etike u državnoj srednjoj školi predstavljalo neopravdano miješanje u njegovo pravo na privatni život. On je naveo da je publicitet koji je dobila njegova porodična i lična situacija kao oženjenog svećenika bio uzrok neobnavljanja ugovora te da to nije u skladu s njegovim pravima na slobodu mišljenja i slobodu izražavanja koje su zagarantirane članovima 9. i 10. Konvencije.
  4. Dana 13. oktobra 2009. godine, predstavka je saopćena Vladi.
  5. Budući da se Luis López Guerra, sudija izabran u ime Španije, povukao u ovom predmetu, Vlada je imenovala Alejandroa Saiza Arnaiza da zasjeda u svojstvu ad hoc sudije (član 27. stav 2 . Konvencije, koji je tada bio na snazi, i pravilo 29. stav 1. Pravila Suda).
  6. Rasprava je održana u Palati ljudskih prava u Strasbourgu 22. novembra 2011. godine (pravilo 59. stav 3).
  7. Dana 15. maja 2012. godine, VijećeTrećeg odjeljenja u sljedećem sastavu: osep Casadevall, predsjednik, Corneliu Bîrsan, Alvina Gyulumyan, Egbert Myjer, Ineta Ziemele, Mihai Poalelungi, sudije, i Alejandro Saiz Arnaiz, ad hoc sudija, te Santiago Quesada, registrar tog odjeljenja, je donijelo presudu kojom je odlučilo, sa šest glasova naspram jednog glasa, da član 8. stav 1. Konvencije nije prekršen.
  8. Dana 18. jula 2012. godine, podnositelj predstavke je tražio da se predmet proslijedi Velikom vijeću u skladu sa članom 43. Konvencije i pravilom 73, tvrdeći da je član 8. stav 1. prekršen. Dana 24. septembra 2012. godine, panel Velikog vijeća je odobrio zahtjev.
  9. Sastav Velikog vijeća je određen u skladu s odredbama člana 26. st. 4. i 5. Konvencije i pravilom 24.
  10. Podnositelj predstavke i Vlada su dostavili pismena zapažanja Velikom vijeću. Osim toga, zapažanja su dostavili Španska episkopalna konferencija (CEE), Evropski centar za pravo i pravdu (ECLJ), Katedra za za pravo i religije Katoličkog univerziteta u Louvainu i Americain Religious Freedom Programm of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, kojima je predsjednik dao dozvolu da interveniraju u svojstvu trećeg lica-umješača u pismenoj formi (član 36. stav 2. Konvencije i pravilo 44. stav 3).
  11. Javna rasprava se održala u Palati ljudskih prava u Strasbourgu 30. januara 2013. godine (pravilo 59. stav 3).

Pred Sudom su se pojavili:

(a) u ime Vlade:
GOSP. F.A. SANZ GANDASEGUI, zastupnik;

(b) u ime podnositelja predstavke:
Gosp. J.L. MAZÓN COSTA,
Gđa E. MARTÍNEZ SEGADO, advokati.

I podnositelj predstavke je bio prisutan na raspravi

Sud je saslušao gosp. Mazóna Costu, gđu Martínez Segado i gosp. Sanza Gandaseguia, te njihove odgovore na pitanja sudija.

ČINJENICE

I.  OKOLNOSTI PREDMETA

A.  Situacija podnositelja predstavke, njegovo zaposlenje te neobnavljanje njegovog ugovora

  1. Podnositelj predstavke je rođen 1937. gocine i živi u Ciezi. Oženjen je i otac je petero djece.
  2. Zaređen je za svećenika 1961. godine. Godine 1984. je podnio zahtjev Vatikanu za oslobađanje od obaveze celibata. Nije dobio nikakav odgovor u to vrijeme. Naredne godine je zaključiograđanski brak. Ima petero djece sa suprugom s kojom je još uvijek u braku. Stranke nisu dostavile nikakve precizne informacije o njegovom statusu svećenika koji nije oslobođensvećeničkih obaveza.
  3. Od oktobra 1991. godine, podnositelj predstavke je bio zaposlen kao nastavnik katoličke vjeronauke i etike u državnoj školi u regiji Mursija na osnovu jednogodišenjeg ugovora koji je bio obnovljiv. Prema odredbama Sporazuma zaključenog 1979. godine između Španije i Svete Stolice, “religijsko obrazovanje predaju osobe koje postavljaju upravne vlasti svake godine među osobama koje predlaže ordinarij dijeceze” (...). U skladu s minstarskom odlukom iz 1982. godine, “takvo postavljanje se obavlja na godišnjem osnovu te se automatski obnavlja, osim ako ordinarij predoči suprotno mišljenje prijepočetka školske godine ili ako javna vlast smatra da je potrebno, zbog ozbiljnih akademskih ili disciplinskih razloga, da se poništi postavljanje, u kojem slučaju se saslušava crkvena vlast (...)” (vidi, stav 51. dole). Osim toga, član VII tog sporazuma propisuje da “na svim nivoima obrazovanja, središnja uprava i Španska episkopalna konferencija zajedno odlučuju o novčanoj naknadi za nastavnike katoličke vjeronauke koji ne pripadaju državnom nastavnom osoblju, na način da se ona primjenjuje od stupanja na snagu ovog Sporazuma” (...).
  4. U novembru 1996. godine, u mursijskim novinama La Verdad, objavljen je članak o “Pokretu za fakultativni celibat” svećenika (MOCEOP), koji glasi:

“Manastir La Luz sprečava oženjene svećenike da koriste njegove objekte za misu

Jedan predstavnik dijeceze je objasnio da bi protestni karakter okupljanja mogao ometati mir manastira.

M. DE LA VIEJA – MURSIJA

Otac Francisco Tomás, koji je na čelu zajednice Braće La Luz, u Mursiji, je odbio pristup manastiru oko stotinjak svećenika koji su izrazili želju da tu održe misu i da provedu dan sa svojim suprugama i djecom. Francisco Tomás je izjavio da je manastir mjesto privatnog bogosluženja i da svećenici nisu zatražili potrebnu dozvolu. On je dodao da, imajući u vidu poodmaklu dob brata Manuela (80 godina), jedinog monaha koji boravi u La Luzu, on ne osjeća da je adekvatno da se održi jedan skup koji bi mogao ugroziti mir manastira zbog publiciteta koji je dobio događaj te protestnih namjera ‘Pokreta za fakultativni celibat’.

Jučer, Francisco Tomás, delegat dijeceze za kulturno nasljeđe, nije dozvolio članovima ‘Pokreta za fakultativni celibat’(Moceop) da slave misu unutar manastira La Luz, u El Valleu. Otac Tomás je objasnio da oženjeni svećenici nisu tražili dozvolu da koriste crkvu manastira. Pored toga, pokret je namjeravao da iskoristi maksimum od dana da bi održao informativni sastanak o IV. međunarodnom kongresu oženjenih svećenika održanom u Braziliji u julu na temu ‘Svećenicitrećeg milenijuma’.

Francisco Tomás je također objasnio da samo jedan osamdesetogodišnji monah živi u manastiru i da nije poželjno da se ugrožava mir tog brata protestima koji bi privukli pažnju medija na to mjesto pivatnog bogosluženja.

Sa svoje strane, regionalni kooridnator Moceopa, Pedro Sánchez González, je izjavio da je potrebna dozvola zasigurno zatražena, ali da pokret nije primio odgovor i da on ne smatra da bi takva dozvola bila nužna u jednom ermitažu.

Publicitet koji je događaj dobio u štampi je odvratio veliki broj članova pokreta od prisustvovanja skupu u La Luzu. Drugi, videći da su vrata manastira zatvorena, su samo dali znak svojim kolegama ne izlazeći iz automobila te su se okrenuli. Samo je desetak sekulariziranih svećenika ostalo tamo sa svojim porodicama da bi objasnili svoju situaciju medijima i prisutnim. Neka od njihove djece su čak držala transparente. Konačno su otišli da ručaju zajedno namjeravajući da slave misu između sebe.

Lorenzo Vicente, Pedro Hernández Cano, Crisanto Hernández i José Antonio Fernández – bivši direktor sjemeništa – su među oženjenim svećenicima koji su se okupili u La Luzu jučer da bi zagovarali fakultativni celibat i demokratsku, a ne teokratsku, crkvu u kojoj bi laici učestvovali u biranju svog župnog svećenika i biskupa. Pravilo celibata je stvorila crkva te nema božansku prirodu. Oni su također izrazili neslaganje u vezi s određenim ekonomskim pitanjima: ‘Oni među nama koji su platili doprinose Fondu uzajamnog osiguranja svećenstva, koji je potom integriran u sistem socijalne sigurnosti, su izgubili sva prava sekularizacijom. Osim toga, opatice su čak u goroj situaciji od svećenika jer doniraju svoju imovinu zajednici i gube sve’, izavili su oni.”

Članak je sadržavao i sljedeći odvojeni dio pod drugim naslovom:

“Čak ni Papa ne vjeruje da ćemo u pakao zbog seksa

U vezi s pitanjem abortusa, kontrole rađanja, razvoda ili seksa, Pedro Hernández Cano i njegovi prijatelji iz Moceopa su se izjasnili u korist odgovornog očinstva.

Oni su dodali da je abortus ‘lični problem koji ne bi trebao biti zabranjem zakonom, ali [da] je određena socijalna struktura potrebna da bi podržala žene koje se suočavaju s majčinstvom. Kažnjavanje neke žene kao griješnice zbog toga što je ostala trudna van braka upravo ohrabruje abortus’. Oženjeni svećenici naglašavaju da je kontrola rađanja jasno potrebna ‘te da bi, prema tome, svako trebao biti slobodan da izabere sredstva koja smatra najadekvatnijim’.

‘Seks je dar od Boga, a ne kazna, te čak ni Papa ne vjeruje da on vodi prokletstvu. Da je to tako, on ne bio stavio na čekanje 6000 aktuelnih zahtjeva za sekularizaciju’, zaključili su oni.”

  1. “Reskriptom” od 20. augusta 1997. godine, papa je usvojio zahtjev za oslobađanje od obaveze celibata, koji je podnositelj predstavke podnio trinaest godina ranije, propisujući da je podnositelj predstavke oslobođen obaveze celibata te da gubi “stanje” klera. On gubi prava koja se odnose na to “stanje” te crkvene počasti i funkcije (dignitates et officia ecclesiastica na latinskom). On nije više imao obaveze koje su se odnosile na “stanje” klera. U reskriptu je dalje navedeno da podnositelj predstavke ne može više predavati katoličku vjeronauku u javnim institucijama, osim ako lokalni biskup odlučidrugačije za niže školske razrede (in institutis autem studiorum gradus inferioris) “prema sopstvenoj razboritoj odluci [prudenti iudicio] i pod uvjetom da [nema] skandala [remoto scandalo]”. Podnositelju predstavke je saopćen reskript 15. septembra 1997. godine.
  2. Dana 29. septembra 1997. godine, Dijeceza Kartahene je informirala Ministarstvo obrazovanja pismenom notom o okončanju službe podnositelja predstavke kao nastavnika u školi u kojoj je radio.
  3. Dana 9. oktobra 1997. godine, Ministarstvo je informiralo podnositelja predstavke da se njegov radni odnos okončava 29. septembra 1997. godine.
  4. U jednoj službenoj noti od 11. novembra 1997. godine, Dijeceza je istakla sljedeće:

“[Podnositelj predstavke], sekularizirani svećenik, predaje katoličku vjeronauku i etiku (...) na osnovu ovlaštenja koja se dodjeljuju biskupima reskriptima (...).

Ta ovlaštenja (...) se mogu vršiti u pogledu nastave iz predmeta koji se odnose na katoličku vjeronauku, pod uvjetom da ne postoji ‘rizik od skandala’.

Kada je situacija [podnositelja predstavke] postala javna i općepoznata,nije više bilo moguće da biskup dijeceze koristi ovlasti koje su mu dodijeljene reskriptom; prema tome, dokument kojim se ovlašćuje [podnositelj predstavke] da predaje katoličku vjeronauku i etiku nije potpisan, što povlači za sobom dejstva od tekuće školske godine. Lična i profesionalna situacija [podnositelja predstavke] je također uzeta u obzir budući da [on] ima pravo da naknadu za nezaposlenost u trajanju od najmanje jedne godine i šest mjeseci.

Dijeceza Kartahene izražava žaljenje zbog takve situacije, ali ističe da je takva odluka donesena i iz obzira prema osjetljivosti mnogih roditelja koji bi mogli biti uznemireni kada saznaju za situaciju [podnositelja predstavke], koji predaje katoličku vjeronauku i etiku u jednom obrazovnom centru.

Konačno, Dijeceza se nada da ćekršćani i društvo u cjelini razumijeti da se okolnosti u vezi s tim činjenicama ne mogu procjenjivati isključivo s profesionalnog stanovišta. Za Katoličku crkvu, sakrament svećenstva ima karakter koji nadilazi okvir koji je striktno vezan za zaposlenje ili profesionalni kontekst.”

  1. Direktor srednjoškolskog centra u kojem je podnositelj predstavke bio zaposlen kao nastavnik je poslao notu mursijskom biskupu u kojoj je nastavno vijeće srednjoškolskog centra izrazilo podršku podnositelju predstavke i istaklo da je on držao časove za vrijeme školske godine 1996/97 uz potpuno zadovoljstvo nastavnika, učenika i njihovih roditelja te uprave centra.
  2. Podnositelj predstavke je na početku živio od naknade za nezaposlene. Potom je našao posao u jednom muzeju 1999. godine, gdje je radio do odlaska u mirovinu 2003. godine.

B.  Sudski postupak

  1. Nakon što mu je odbijena žalba u upravnom postupku protiv odluke ministra o okončanju radnog odnosa, podnositelj predstavke je uložio žalbu protiv te odluke upravnom sudu. Žalba je odbijena 30. juna 2000. godine uz obrazloženje da je odluka kojom se formalno okončava radni odnos podnositelja predstavke bila “jedina opcija za upravne vlasti” kada je Dijeceza odlučila da ne predloži podnositelja predstavke.
  2. Podnositelj predstavke je potom pokrenuo postupak zbog nepravičnog otkaza pred Radnim sudom broj 3 u Mursiji. Radni sud je donio presudu 28. septembra 2000. godine.
  3. Sud je prihvatio činjenice kao ustanovljene te je istakao da je podnositelj predstavke bio postavljan na razna mjesta u okviru Katoličke crkve, kao što je direktor sjemeništa u Mursiji ili episkopski vikar u regijama Cieza i Yecla. On je dalje istakao da je podnositelj predstavke član MOCEOP-a.
  4. Sud se potom pozvao na argumente koje je koristila Dijeceza kako bi opravdala neobnavljanje ugovora podnositelju predstavke, naime činjenicu da je obznanio svoju situaciju “oženjenog svećenika” (Vatikan ga je oslobodio svećeničkih obaveza tek 1997) i oca, zajedno s potrebom da se izbjegne skandal i ima obzira prema osjetljivosti roditelja djece te škole, budući da bi se mogli osjećatiuvrijeđenim ako bi podnositelj predstavke nastavio da predaje katoličku vjeronauku u etiku. U tom pogledu, sud je zauzeo sljedeći stav:

“(...) [U] svjetlu predočenihčinjenica, gospodin Fernández Martínez je bio diskriminiran zbog svog bračnog stanja i članstva u Pokretu za fakultativni celibat budući da je njegovo pojavljivanje u novinama bilo uzrok otkaza.”

  1. Sud je dalje istakao:

“Princip nediskriminacije na poslu obuhvata zabranu diskriminacije na osnovu pripadanja nekom sindikatu ili sindikalne aktivnosti, što se primjenjuje na članstvo u bilo kojem drugom udruženju.”

  1. Konačno, sud je istakao da je situacija podnositelja predstavke kao “oženjenog svećenika” i oca bila poznata đacima i njihovim roditeljima, te direktorima dvije škole gdje je radio.
  2. Prema tome, sud je usvojio žalbu podnositelja predstavke, proglasio otkaz (kao što je opisano u presudi) ništavnim, naložio Regiji Mursija da ga vrati na radno mjesto te naložio državi da mu plati neisplaćeneplaće. Sud je odbio žalbu podnositelja predstavke u onom dijelu koji je bio usmjeren protiv Dijeceze Kartahene.
  3. Ministarstvo obrazovanja, Odjel za obrazovanje Regije Mursija i Dijeceza Kartahene su uložili žalbu (suplicación). Presudom od 26. februara 2001. godine, Visoki sud pravde Mursije je usvojio žalbu ističućisljedeće:

“(...) Davanje časova iz [katoličke vjeronauke i etike] je povezano s doktrinom katoličke vjeronauke (...). Prema tome, uspostavljeni odnos [između nastavnika i biskupa] je zasnovan na povjerenju. [Rezutat toga] nije neutralni pravni odnos, kao što onaj koji postoji izmeđugrađanaopćenito i javne vlasti. On je smješten na granici izmeđučisto crkvene dimenzije i početka radnog odnosa.”

  1. Osim toga, sud se pozvao na prerogative biskupa u tim pitanjima i zauzeo stanovište da u ovom predmetu nisu prekršeni član 14 (zabrana diskriminacije), član 18 (pravo na poštivanje privatnog i porodičnog života) ili član 20 (sloboda izražavanja) Ustava Španije, budući da je podnositelj predstavke predavao vjeronauku od 1991. godine jer je biskup produžavao njegovo zaposlenje iz godine u godinu, iako je njegova situacija bila identična. Sud je zaključio da je biskup samo iskoristio svoje prerogative u skladu sa Zakonikom kanonskog prava kada je podnositelj predstavke odlučio da obznani svoju situaciju, tj. da osigura da podnositelj predstavke, kao svaka osoba u takvoj situaciji, obavlja svoje dužnosti uz diskreciju i da izbjegava da njegov lični status izazove skandal. Prema mišljenju suda, ako takva situacija postane javna, dužnost biskupa je da ne predlaže više dotičnu osobu za mjesto takve prirode, u skladu sa zahtjevima predviđenim u reskriptu kojim se dodjeljuje oslobađanje od obaveze celibata.
  2. Osim toga, naročito u pogledu člana 20. Ustava, sud je istakao da se ograničenja prava podnositelja predstavke, u smislu člana 10. stav 2. Evropske konvencije o ljudskim pravima, moraju smatrati legitimnim i proporcionalnim cilju kojem se teži, naročito izbjegavanje skandala.
  3. Nadalje, sud je analizirao pitanje odnosa povjerenja te je zaključiosljedeće:

“(...) Kada se takav odnos prekine (a u ovom predmetu postoje okolnosti koje razumno omogućavaju da se donese takav zaključak), biskup nema više obavezu da predlaže da se predmetna osoba postavi na mjesto nastavnika katoličke vjeronauke.”

  1. Konačno, u pogledu prirode ugovora, sud je zauzeo stanovište da se radi o privremenom ugovoru, koji je u ovom slučaju jednostavno istekao, budući da je obnavljanje ugovora predmet godišnjeg odobrenja biskupa za narednu školsku godinu. Prema tome, ne može se smatrati da je podnositelj predstavke otpušten.
  2. Pozivajući se na član 14 (zabrana diskriminacije), član 18 (pravo na poštivanje privatnog i porodičnog života) i član 20 (sloboda izražavanja) Ustava, podnositelj predstavke je uložio žalbu amparo Ustavnom sudu. On je naročito naveo da odluka o neobnavljanju njegovog ugovora, zbog toga što je obznanio da je član MOCEOP-a te svoja mišljenja o neslaganju s obavezom celibata katoličkihsvećenika, predstavlja neopravdano miješanje u njegov privatni život te da nije u skladu s pravom na slobodu religije.
  3. Odlukom od 30. juna 2003. godine, vijeće kojem je dodijeljen predmet je proglasilo žalbu amparo dopustivom i, u skladu sa članovima 50. do 52. Organskog zakona o ustavnom sudu, saopćilo odluku strankama i zatražilo kopiju spisa od sudova a quo.
  4. Za vrijeme obavezne intervencije pred Ustavnim sudom, javno tužiteljstvo (Ministerio Fiscal) se izjasnilo u prilog odluke kojom se usvaja žalba amparo koju je uložio podnositelj predstavke. U tom pogledu, ono je kritiziralo obrazloženje koje dao Visoki sud pravde, koji je smatrao da je neobnavljanje ugovora opravdano budući da je podnositelj predstavke djelovao na način koji je u suprotnosti s reskriptom o oslobađanju od obaveze kada je pristao da obznani svoju porodičnu situaciju. Javno tužiteljstvo je istaklo da se javno pojavljivanje podnositelja predstavke desilo mnogo prije nego što odobren njegov zahtjev za oslobođanje od obaveze celibata te prije donošenja reskripta. Ono je dalje istaklo da je članstvopodnositelja predstavke u predmetnom pokretu bilo poznato crkvenim vlastima. Javno tužiteljstvo je zauzelo stanovište da je postupak podnositelja predstavke, koji je poslužio kao opravdanje za neobnavljanje ugovora o radnom odnosu –  naime, njegovo prisustvovanje događaju – obuhvaćen opsegom njegove slobode misli, te je otkazom prekršeno njegovo pravno na jednakost (član 14. Ustava), u vezi s njegovim pravom na slobodu misli (član 16. Ustava).
  5. Presudom od 4. juna 2007. godine, koja je dostavljena 18. juna 2007. godine, Ustavni sud je odbio žalbu amparo.
  6. Ustavni sud je prvo ispitao navodnu povredu člana 14 (pravo na jednakost) i člana 18 (pravo na poštivanje privatnog i porodišnog života) Ustava te je odbio te žalbene navode, prvi zbog toga što odluka kojom podnositelj predstavke nije predložen za nastavnika nije zasnovana na bilo kakvoj namjeri da on bude diskriminiran na osnovu svog bračnog stanja, a drugi zbog toga što je on sam, slobodnom voljom, obznanio svoju ličnu i porodičnu situaciju i činjenicu da ječlan MOCEOP-a.
  7. Ustavni sud je potom razmatrao ono što je smatrao glavnim pitanjem u žalbi amparo, naime, navodno kršenje članova 16. i 20. Ustava. On je ispitao da li bi se predmetne činjenice mogle opravdati slobodom religije Katoličke crkve (član 16. stav 1. Ustava), u vezi s obavezom države da bude neutralna naspram religije (član 16. stav 3. Ustava) ili da li one, nasuprot tome, predstavljaju kršenje prava podnositelja predstavke na slobodu misli i religije (član 16. stav 1. Ustava) u vezi s njegovim pravom na slobodu izražavanja (član 20. stav 1. tačka (a) Ustava). S tim ciljem, sud se pozvao na kriterije iz svoje presude broj 38/2007 od 15. februara 2007. godine, koja se odnosila na ustavnost sistema selekcije i zapošljevanja nastavnika katoličke vjeronauke u državnim školama. U tom pogledu, sud je istakao poseban status nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja u Španiji te zauzeo stanovište da taj status opravdava činjenicu da se pri selekciji takvih nastavnika vodi računa o njihovim religijskim uvjerenjima.
  8. U tom pogledu, Ustavni sud je objasnio sljedeće:

“(...) zadatak Ustavnog suda u ovom predmetu, kao i u drugim predmetima u kojima postoji sukob između osnovnih prava koji imaju materijalni karakter, je da ispita da li su sudovi [a quo] odmjerili konkurentna predmetna prava na način koji odražava njihovu ustavnu definiciju (...). Pri tome, Sud nije vezan ocjenom tih sudova. Drugim riječima, ocjena ovog Suda nije ograničena na vanjsko preispitivanje adekvatnosti i dosljednosti obrazloženja predmetne odluke ili odluka (...); u svojstvu vrhovnog garanta osnovnih prava, on mora riješiti bilo koji sukob koji postoji između ugroženih prava te odlučiti da li su ta prava bila prekršena u smislu njihovog pojedinačnog ustavnog sadržaja. Međutim, u tu svrhu, potrebno je primijeniti kriterije koji se razlikuju od onih koje su primijenili sudovi [a quo] budući da obrazloženja koja su dali ti sudovi nisu obavezujuća za ovaj Sud te ne ograničavaju njegovu jurisdikciju na puko preispitivanje razloga datih u njihovim odlukama (...).”

  1. U pogledu činjenica predmeta, Ustavni sud je istakao na početku da je razlog za neobnavljanje ugovora bio članak u regionalnim novinama, koji je prouzrokovao skandal prema argumentima koje je predočila Dijeceza Kartahene u svojoj službenoj noti od 11. novembra 1997. godine. U tom članku su objavljenje dvije lične karakteristike podnositelja predstavke koje su već bile poznate Dijecezi, naime, njegova porodična situacija, kao oženjenog svećenika, i činjenica da je član jednog pokreta koji osporava određene propise Katoličke crkve. Taj publicitet je predstavljao činjenični osnov onoga što je Dijeceza smatrala u svojoj noti da predstavlja skandal.
  2. Ističući da je Visoki sud pravde djelotvorno preispitao odluku biskupa, naročito u vezi s nemogučnošću biskupa da predloži kandidate koji nemaju potrebne profesionalne kvalifikacije za radno mjesto i u vezi s obavezom poštivanja osnovnih prava i građanskih sloboda, Ustavni sud je ustanovio sljedeće:

“Dugi izvodi iz osporene presude pokazuju da Visoki sud pravde nije odbacio mogućnost sudskog preispitivanja odluke crkvene vlasti, niti je oklijevao da uspostavi ravnotežu između osnovnih prava koja su u sukobu u ovom predmetu i prava na slobodu religije (član 16. stav 1. Ustava), što je on uradio na nedvosmislen način.”

  1. Ustavni sud je potom pristupio sopstvenom uspostavljanju ravnoteže između konkurentnih osnovnih prava:

“Nakon ispitivanja ravnoteže koja je uspostavljena između predmetnh prava u osporenoj presudi, ovaj Sud mora ispitati, van obrazloženja iz te presude, zaključke donesene u toj presudi nakon evaluacije konkurentnih osnovnih prava. Pri tome, Sud mora razmotriti ne samo prava koja su razmatrana u toj presudi nego i pravo na slobodu misli i religije, što je pitanje koje je on predočioex officio strankama radi razmatranja (...).

Odluka Dijeceze da ne predloži podnositelja žalbe u ovom predmetu za nastavnika katoličke vjeronauke i etike je motivirana njegovim postupcima i mišljenjima, tj. obznanjivanjem, kao prvo, svoje situacija kao svećenika koji je oženjen i oca petero djece, a kao drugo, svog članstva u Pokretu za fakultativni celibat (kao što je to jasno naznačeno u presudama sudova a quo i kao što je izričito istakao žalitelj u žalbi amparo). Jasno je da se ti postupci i mišljenja, iz perspektive (sekularne) države, moraju razmatrati u smislu mogućeg kršenja prava na slobodu misli i religije (član 16. stav 1. Ustava) u vezi s pravom na slobodu izražavanja (član 20. stav 1. tačka (a) Ustava), koja su navedena u žalbi amparo.

Da bi se riješilo to pitanje, potrebno je imati na umu da nijedno pravo, čak ni osnovno pravo, nije apsolutno ili neograničeno. U nekim slučajevima, odredba Ustava koja priznaje neko pravo izričitoograničava to pravo; u nekim drugim slučajevima,ograničenje proizilazi iz potrebe da se očuvaju druga ustavna prava ili vrijednosti koje opravdavaju zaštitu. U tom pogledu, ovaj Sud je više puta isticao da se osnovna prava koja priznaje Ustav mogu podvrgavati samo ograničenjima koja su izričito propisana samim Ustavom ili onim koja indirektno proizilaze iz Ustava kao opravdana da bi se očuvala druga prava ili vrijednosti zaštićene zakonom. U svakom slučaju, nametnuta ograničenja ne mogu onemogućavati ostvarivanje predmetnog osnovnog prava do nerazumne mjere (vidi, presude Ustavnog suda 11/1981 od 8. aprila 1981, pravno obrazloženje 7; 2/1982 od 29. januara 1982, pravno obrazloženje 5; 53/1986 od 5. maja 1986, pravno obrazloženje 3; 49/1995 od 19. juna 1995, pravno obrazloženje 4; 154/2002 od 18. jula 2002, pravno obrazloženje 8; 14/2003 od 28. januara 2003, pravno obrazloženje 5; and 336/2005 od 20. decembra 2005, pravno obrazloženje 7).

U ovom predmetu, miješanje u pravo na slobodu religije podnositelja žalbe, u svojoj individualnoj dimenziji, i njegovo pravo na slobodu misli (član 16. stav 1. Ustava), u vezi s pravom na slobodu izražavanja (član 20. stav 1. tačka (a) Ustava), zbog činjeniceda ga Dijeceza nije predložila za nastavnika katoličke vjeronauke i obrazovanja za 1997/98 školsku godinu – u kontekstu njegovog zahtjeva da nastavi predavati vjeronauku određene religijske konfesije u određenoj javnoj obrazovnoj ustanovi – nije bilo ni disproporcionalno ni neustavno budući da je opravdano poštivanjem zakonitog ostvarivanja osnovnog prava Katoličke crkve na slobodu religije u njenoj kolektivnoj dimenziji i dimenziji zajednice (član 16. stav 1. Ustava), u vezi s pravom roditelja da izaberu religijsko obrazovanje za svoju djecu (član 27. stav 3. Ustava). Razlozi odluke da se podnositelj žalbe ne predloži za nastavnika katoličke vjreonauke i etike su bili isključivo religijske prirode i u vezi s pravilima konfesije kojoj je zainteresirani slobodno pristupio i čija je uvjerenja namjeravao predavati u jednoj javnoj obrazovnoj ustanovi.”

  1. Ustavni sud se pozvao na svoju presudu broj 38/2007 od 15. februara 2007, ističućisljedeće:

“Kao što je ovaj Sud naznačio u presudi 38/2007 od 15. februara 2007 i ponovio u tački 5. pravnog obrazloženja ove presude, ‘bilo bi savim jednostavno nerazumno, kada je riječ o religijskom obrazovanju u školama, da se religijska uvjerenja onih koji odlučuju sopstvenom voljom da konkuriraju za takva mjesta nastavnika ne uzimaju u obzir prilikom postupka selekcije, na osnovu garancije prava na slobodu religije u njenoj vanjskoj i kolektivnoj dimenziji’ (...).

Naravno, potrebno je ponoviti, u vezi s opravdanjem i ustavnošću posljedica ili ograničenja osnovnog prava podnositelja žalbe na slobodu religije i misli (član 16. stav 1. Ustava), u vezi s pravom na slobodu izražavanja (član 20. stav 1. tačka (a) Ustava) da, kao što je ovaj Sud istakao u navedenoj presudi 38/2007 od 15. februara 2007, ‘odnos između nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja i Crkve nije u potpunosti isti kao onaj koji postoji u organizacijama koje nastoje postići ideološke ciljeve, kao što je ovaj Sud ispitao više puta, nego predstavlja specifičnu i različitu kategoriju koja je, uprkos određenimsličnostima,takođerrazličita u izvjesnim pogledima’. U tom pogledu je Sud istakao u istoj presudi, pozivajući se na jedan od faktora koji pravi razliku između odnosa između nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja i Crkve, s jedne strane, i odnosa unutar neke organizacije koja nastoji postići ideološke ciljeve, s druge strane, te omogućava da se izmijene prava nastavnika u skladu s obrazovnom etikom privatnih obrazovnih ustanova – da se obaveza koja se nameće uvjerenjem o crkvenoj podobnosti ‘ne sastoji jednostavno od dužnosti da se uzdržava od djela koja su suprotna religijskoj etici, nego se pruža, još dublje, na procjenjivanje kapaciteta pojedinca da predaje katoličku doktrinu, shvaćenu kao skup religijskih ubjeđenja zasnovanih na vjeri. Činjenica, da je cilj religijske nastave prenošenje ne samo specifičnog znanja nego i vjere osobe koja ju predaje, implicira svakako niz zahtjeva koji prevazilaze granice neke organizacije koja slijedi ideološke ciljeve, počevši od implicitnog zahtjeva da osobe koje žele da prenose religijsku vjeru moraju ispovijedati tu vjeru’ (...).”

  1. Konačno, Ustavni sud je razmotrio argument koji je naveo podnositelj žalbe, naime da je propovijedao reformu pravila same katoličke vjere, te je zaključiosljedeće:

“Zaključak do kojeg se došlo u ovom predmetu kao rezultat uspostavljanja ravnoteže između konkurentnih osnovnih prava – s jedne strane, osnovno pravo Katoličke crkve na slobodu religije u njenoj kolektivnoj dimenziji i dimenziji zajednice (član 16. stav 1. Ustava), u vezi s obavezom koju ima država u smislu neutralnosti naspram religije (član 16. stav 3. Ustava) i, s druge strane, osnovno pravo podnositelja žalbe na slobodu misli i religije (član 16. stav 1. Ustava), u vezi s pravom na slobodu izražavanja (član 20. stav 1. tačka (a) Ustava) – nije izmijenjen argumentom podnositelja žalbe da putem svojih reformatorskih mišljenja o obavezi celibata katoličkihsvećenika propovijeda evolutivnu promjenu pravila katoličke vjere za koje smatra da su prevaziđena protekom vremena. Kao što je istakao pravni savjetnik Vlade u svojim zapažanjima, obaveza koju ima država, u smislu neutralnosti naspram religije (član 16. stav 3. Ustava), zabranjuje državi da se miješa ili odlučuje o eventulanim sporovima sa Crkvom, u ovom predmetu između pristalica i protivnika celibata svećenika.Općenitogovoreći, na Sudu nije ni da se izjašnjava o adekvatnosti ili suglasnosti djela, mišljenja ili ponašanja osoba koju su određene da predaju određenu religiju vis-à-vis pravovjernosti predmetne religijske vjere. Kao državni organ koji vrši javnu vlast, Sud se mora ograničiti na ovu žalbu amparo,u skladu s obavezom neutralnosti, da bi ustanovio striktno religijsku prirodu obrazloženja koje je dala religijska vlast u svojoj odluci o nepredlaganju podnositelja žalbe za nastavnika katoličke vjeronauke i etike. On dalje ističe da su prava podnositelja žalbe na slobodu misli i religije i slobodu izražavanja, kojim bi njegova djela, mišljenja i izbori u principu mogli biti obuhvaćeni,pogođena i ograničena samo do stepena koji je striktno potreban da bi se osigurala njihova kompatibilnost sa slobodom religije Katoličke crkve. Prema tome, ova žalba amparo se mora odbiti.”

  1. Dvojica sudija su predočila izdvojeno mišljenje suprotno većinskoj odluci. Oni su kritizirali činjenicu da je uspostavljanje ravnoteže između prava, koje je obavio Ustavni sud, bilo ograničeno na pozivanje na religijsko obrazloženje iz odluke da se ne produži radni odnos podnositelja predstavke. Prema njihovom stanovištu, publicitet koji je dat određenom obliku ponašanja, koje je već prije toga bilo poznatno, ne može opravdati neobnavljanje ugovora.
  2. Podnositelj predstavke je potom tražio da se presuda Ustavnog suda proglasi ništavnom uz obrazloženje da su dvojica sudija vijeća koje je donijelo presudu poznata po svojoj povezanosti s Katoličkom crkvom, od kojih je jedan članMeđunarodnog sekretarijata katoličkih pravnika.
  3. Odlukom od 23. jula 2007. godine, Ustavni sud je odbio zahtjev uz obrazloženje da je jedini mogući pravni lijek protiv presude tog suda, prema članu 93(1) Organskog zakona o Ustavnom sudu, zahtjev za razjašnjenjem.

(...).

PRAVO

I.  NAVODNA POVREDA ČLANA 8. KONVENCIJE

  1. Podnositelj predstavke se žali na neobnavljanje ugovora o radnom odnosu. On ističe da je to dovelo do kršenja njegovog prava na poštivanje privatnog i porodičnog života te se poziva na član 8. Konvencije, koji glasi:

“1.  Svako ima pravo na poštivanje svog privatnog i porodičnog života, doma i prepiske.

2.  Javna vlast se ne miješa u vršenje ovog prava, osim ako je takvo miješanje predviđeno zakonom i ako je to neophodna mjera u demokratskom društvu u interesu nacionalne sigurnosti, javne sigurnosti, ekonomske dobrobiti zemlje, sprečavanja nereda ili sprečavanjazločina, zaštite zdravlja i morala ili zaštite prava i sloboda drugih.”

A.  Zaključci Vijeća

  1. U svojoj presudi od 15. maja 2012. godine, Sud je istakao da je pojam autonomije religijskih zajednica, prema španskom pravu, dopunjen principom neutralnosti države naspram religije, kao što je priznat Ustavom, što onemogućava državi da odlučuje o pitanjima kao što je celibat svećenika.Međutim, obaveza neutralnosti nije neograničena. Ustavni sud je potvrdio u presudi da on ne onemogućava sudovima da preispitaju odluku biskupa, da provjere njegovo poštivanje osnovnih prava i građanskih sloboda. Definiranje religijskih ili moralnih kriterija koji su u osnovi odluke o neobnavljanju ugovora je ipak isključivi prerogativ religijskih vlasti. Domaći sudovi imaju pravo da odmjeravaju konkurentna osnovna prava i da ispituju da li oni razlozi koji su striktno religijske prirode imaju uticaj na odluku da se imenuje neki kandidat, jer su religijski razlozi sami zaštićeni principom slobode religije.
  2. Sud je istakao da je podnositelju predstavke data mogućnost da predoči svoj predmet pred Radnim sudom i Visokim sudom pravde Mursije, a zatim pred posljednjom instancom putem žalbe amparo pred Ustavnim sudom. Osim toga, oslobađanje od obaveze celibata koje mu je dodijeljeno propisuje da osobe koje su predmet takve mjere ne mogu predavati katoličku vjeronauku u javnim institucijama, osim u slučaju da dobiju dozvolu biskupa.
  3. Sud je zauzeo stanovište da su okolnosti koje su bile osnov za neobnavljanje ugovora podnositelja predstavke striktno religijske prirode te da zahtjevi principa slobode religije i neutralnosti onemogućavaju da se dalje ispituje nužnost i proporcionalnost odluke da se ne obnovi njegov ugovor o radnom odnosu.
  4. Konačno, Sud je zaključio da su nadležni sudovi uspostavili pravičnu ravnotežu izmeđurazličitih privatnih interesa te da član 8. Konvencije nije prekršen.

B.  Argumenti stranaka u postupku i zapažanja trećeg lica-umješača

1.  Podnositelj predstavke

  1. Prema podnositelju predstavke, Vijećeje u presudi žrtvovalo njegovo pravo na poštivanje privatnog i porodičnog života u prilog nekog novog apsolutnog prava Katoličkecrkve, naime, prava da daje otkaz slobodno ili na osnovu razloga koji su smiješni ili trivijalni. Podnositelj predstavke se kroz kompletno zapažanje pozivao na “otkaz”, a ne na neobnavljanje ugovora.
  2. Podnositelj predstavke se pozvao na sudsku praksu Suda u predmetu Hasan i Chaush protiv Bugarske ([VV], broj 30985/96, stav 60, ECHR 2000-XI), u kojem je naznačeno da pravo na slobodu religije ne štiti svaki akt koji je motiviran ili inspiriran religijom ili uvjerenjem. U ovom predmetu, odluka o neobnavljanju ugovora, nakon publiciteta koji je dat situaciji podnositelja predstavke, je bila jasno disproporcionalna.
  3. Podnositelj predstavke je dalje istakao da presuda Vijeća nije uzela u obzir činjenicu da je država ta koja mu je plaćala platu, što je činjenica koja je trebala imati više značaja za njegova osnovna prava, kao što je pravo na poštivanje privatnog života.
  4. Taj faktor omogućava da se napravi razlika između ovog predmeta i prethodnih predmeta koje je ispitao Sud, kao što su Obst protiv Njemačke (broj 425/03, od 23. septembra 2010), Schüth protiv Njemačke (broj 1620/03, ECHR 2010) i Siebenhaar protiv Njemačke (broj 18136/02, od 3. februara 2011). U tim predmetima, koji su se odnosili na Njemačku, zapošljavanje osoblja od strane religijskih zajednica su obavljale direktno crkve ili same vjerske organizacije, a javna vlast nije intervenirala u postupku zapošljavanja. Osim toga, za razliku od situacije u ovom predmetu, javna vlast čak nije ni plaćala plate uposlenicima u tim predmetima.
  5. Podnositelj predstavke je istakao da je argument “skandala” koji je istakao biskup zasnovan na pojavljivanju jedne fotografije u štampi koja prikazuje podnositelja predstavke i njegovu porodicu. U vezi s tim, on je istakao da se za vrijeme časova vjeronauke nije nikada izjašnjavao protiv postulata crkve, uključujući celibat svećenika. On je naveo notu podrške direktora srednjoškolske institucije u kojoj je bio nastavnik.
  6. Podnositelj predstavke se žali da su kritike upućenekatoličkimnačelima bile pripisane njemu, iako on nije dao nikakvu izjavu za štampu. Predmetne primjedbe su izrazili drugi članovi “Pokreta za fakultativni celibat” (svećenika) koji su bili prisutni na skupu.
  7. U vezi s tim, podnositelj predstavke se žali da je Vijeće, u st. 84. i 86. presude, uvelo novi osnov za odluku o neobnavljanju ugovora, naime, kritike koje je navodno uputio podnositelj predstavke, dok je u noti biskupa spomenut samo publicitet dat ličnoj situaciji podnositelja predstavke.
  8. Imajući u vidu navedeno, podnositelj predstavke je istakao da je Vijeće, u svojoj presudi, izmijenilo činjenice koje je Radni sud broj 3 u Mursiji proglasio ustanovljenim, koji je smatrao da je osnov za neobnavljanje ugovora bio “skandal”, te, umjesto toga, usvojilo zaključke iz presude Ustavnog suda.

2.  Vlada

  1. Vlada je istakla da je osnovno da se odredi centralno pitanje, naime, koje činjenice predstavljaju osnov za odluku Dijeceze Kartahene da ne obnovi uvjerenje o podobnosti za predavanje katoličke vjeronauke podnositelju predstavke. Prema mišljenju Vlade, neobnavljanje se može objasniti događajima koje je izazvao sam podnositelj predstavke: njegovo dobrovoljno objavljivanje činjenice u medijima da je oženjeni svećenik i da pripada Pokretu za fakultativni celibat svećenika, te stajališta o nizu pitanja koja su suprotna stavuKatoličke crkve. Te javne izjave su jasno prekinule odnos povjerenja, kao osnovni, između podnositelja predstavke i Crkve.
  2. Vlada se u potpunosti složila s pristupom koji je usvojilo Vijeće u pogledu relevantne odredbe iz Konvencije u ovom predmetu te je istakla da bi rezultat bio isti da je predmet bio ispitan na osnovu člana 9.
  3. Vlada je zauzela stanovište da se ovaj predmet mora ispitati, kao što je Vijeće ustanovilo u stavu 78. presude, iz perspektive pozitivnih obaveza države (u svjetlu predmeta Rommelfanger protiv Njemačke, broj 12242/86, odluka Komisije od 6. septembra 1989. godine, Odluke i izvještaji 62). Vlada je istakla da je država ispunila svoje obaveze u ovom predmetu.
  4. Vlada je istakla da se ministarska odluka od 11. oktobra 1982. godine primjenjivala u relevantno vrijeme, kao dopuna Sporazumu zaključenom 1979. godine između Španije i Svete Stolice.
  5. Osim toga, Vlada je istakla da su nastavnici religijskog obrazovanja, u relevantno vrijeme, primali svoje plate direktno od Katoličke crkve, kojoj je država isplaćivala sredstva u obliku subvencija. Iako se pravni režim za nastavnike religijskog obrazovanja promijenio te oni sada primaju plate direktno od javnih vlasti, jedan osnovni faktor se nije promijenio, naime, nužnost da se dobije uvjerenje o podobnosti koje izdaje Crkva, bez kojeg nastavnik ne može biti postavljen na određeno mjesto. Vlada smatra da to je jednostavno karakteristika načina na koji država organizira finansiranje obrazovanja iz raznih religija u Španiji te da bi trebalo biti dodijeljeno široko polje procjene državama u pogledu organizacije njihovih obrazovnih sistema.
  6. Prema tome, Vlada je istakla da odluka o neobnavljanju ugovora u ovom predmetu, iako ju je donijela javna vlast, predstavlja “obavezujući akt”. Javna vlast ne može ignorirati neispunjavanje jednog od uvjeta za obnavljanje ugovora, naime, imenovanje od strane Katoličke crkve i izjavu o podobnosti. Prema tome, odluka javne vlasti je bila puka formalnost.
  7. Uvjerenje o podobnosti ne potvrđuje jednostavano tehničku sposobnost kandidata. Prema kanonu 804. stav 2. Zakonika kanonskog prava, profesionalna kvalifikacija nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja se zasniva na njihovoj moralnosti, primjerenom kršćanskom životu i pedagoškim sposobnostima. To pokazuje osnovnu prirodu odnosa povjerenja između crkve i nastavnika, što je Vlada okvalificirala kao pravno-kanonski odnos. U ovom predmetu, taj odnos povjerenja je prekinut izjavama podnositelja predstavke.
  8. Međutim, odnos povjerenja ne isključuje u potpunosti mogućnost da sudovi preispitaju odluku Crkve ili uspostave ravnotežu između konkurentnih osnovnih prava.
  9. Prema tome, nakon što provjere da li osnov odluke o neobnavljanju ugovora u nekom predmetu ima isključivo religijski karakter, sudovi moraju uspostaviti ravnotežu između konkurentnih osnovnih prava.
  10. Vlada je istakla da su razlozi u ovom predmetu bili isključivo religijski i da su se odnosili na obavezu lojalnosti i dosljednosti koju je podnositelj predstavke morao poštivati u poslu, koji je slobodno izabrao i koji se, osim toga, razlikuje od pedagoškog rada u drugim predmetima, kao što su matematika ili istorija. Prema tome, Vlada je zatražila od Suda da ima na umu da je odnos lojalnosti u ovom predmetu više izražen, nego u onom koji je postojao u predmetima koji se odnosili na crkvenog orguljaša (Schüth, citiran gore), na osobu koja čuva djecu jednoj vjerskoj školi (Siebenhaar, citiran gore) ili direktora za javne odnose Crkve (Obst, citiran gore).
  11. Prema Vladi, pitanje koje treba razmotriti nije da li su sporne primjedbe bile legitimne i da li mogu biti izražene javno. Vlada smatra da pitanje koje se postavlja je da li je neka religijska organizacija obavezna da imenuje i nastavi da zapošljava kao nastavnika vjerskog obrazovanja osobu koja je javno izrazila stanovišta koja nisu u skladu s njenom doktrinom. Iako su takve primjedbe obuhvaćene pravom podnositelja predstavke na slobodu izražavnja, također je istina da su one u kontradikciji s doktrinom Crkve i uvjetima koji se iziskuju za kanonsku podobnost nastavnika.
  12. Vlada je potom ponovo naznačila pravnu situaciju podnositelja predstavke vis-à-visKatoličke crkve: dejstvo oslobađanja od obaveze celibata je bilo ograničenjemogućnosti držanja časova iz katoličkevjeronauke i davanje prava biskupu da ipak dozvoli tu aktivnost pod uvjetvom da ne postoji rizik od skandala. Prema tome, biskup je jednostavno vršio svoje ovlasti.
  13. Vlada je dalje istakla da je podnositelj predstavke imao mogućnost da predoči argumente sudovima na različitim nivoima jurisdikcije, koji su ispitali zakonitost osporene mjere u svjetlu radnog prava, uzimajući u obzir crkveno pravo, te uspostavili ravnotežu između konkurentnih interesa podnositelja predstavke i Crkve, primjenjujući, prema tome, doktirnu Suda u tom pogledu.
  14. Konačno, Vlada je istakla da se nastavnici religijskog obrazovanja zapošljavaju na osnovu kriterija koji se u osnovi razlikuju od onih koji su relevantni za nastavnike ostalih predmeta. Dok se ovi posljednji moraju prijaviti na otvoreni i javni natječaj, nastavnike religijskog obrazovanja imenuje Katolička crkva, koja ih odabire slobodno te ih predlaže građanskoj vlasti ako smatra da su podobni za nastavnike vjeronauke.

3.  Zapažanja trećeg lica-umješača

(a)  Španska episkopalna konferencija (Conferencia Episcopal Española (CEE))

  1. U svojim zapažanjima, CEE je izjavila da je obaveza nastavnika vjerskog obrazovanja da posjeduju crkveno uvjerenje o podobnosti te se mogućnost crkve da povuče ili opozove takvo odobrenje zbog religijskih ili moralnih razloga adaptira prema samoj prirodi radnog mjetsa te pravu roditelja i učenika na ispravno prenošenje katoličke doktrine i vrijednosti.
  2. CEE je skrenula apažnju na specifičan sistem zapošljavanja nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja u Španiji, koji se razlikuje od zapošljavanja ostalih nastavnika, te je istakla da njih predlažu razne vjerske grupe javnoj vlasti, nakon što budu izabrani među osobama koje imaju akademske kvalifikacije koje se smatraju ekvivalentnim kvalifikacijama nastavnika koje zapošljava javna vlast. Nakon što odgovarajuće vjerske grupe principijelno predlože nastavnike religijskog obrazovanja, nastavnike postavlja javna vlast.
  3. Taj specifični sistem ima objektivno i razumno opravdanje te je proporcijonalno ciljevima koje nastoji postići zakonodavac, naime, garantiranje neutralnosti države naspram religije, pravo roditelja na obrazovanje svoje djece i autonomija vjerskih grupa pri zapošljavanju nastavnog osoblja. U ovom predmetu, neobnavljanje ugovora se nije odnosilo na status podnositelja predstavke kao oženjenog svećenika, nego na činjenicu da je on djelovao javno protiv Crkve.

(b)  Evropski centar za pravo i pravdu (ECLJ)

  1. ECLJ je na početku istakao značaj principa institucionalne autonomije vjerskih grupa, koji je u skladu s obavezom države da bude neutralna i nepristrasna. Prema njemu, malo je važno da li je status nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja povezan sa statusom državnih službenika ili uposlenika zaposlenih na osnovu ugovora budući da to ne mijenja ništa u religijskom karakteru njihovog zaposlenja. Krucijalno pitanje prema trećemlicu-umješaču je da redovni sudovi imaju mogućnost preispitivanja. Opseg takvog preispitivanja bi trebao varirati u ovisnosti o stepenu do kojeg je obrazloženje za odluku o neobnavljanju ugovora čisto religijsko.
  2. ECLJ se pozvao na pojam veće obaveze lojalnosti, kao što je priznat međunarodnim i evropskim pravom: Direktiva 78/2000/EC, Konvencija broj 111 Međunarodne organizacije rada o diskriminaciji u odnosu na zaposlenje i zanimanje, Smjernice za preispitivanje zakona relevantnih za religiju ili religijsko uvjerenje koje su usvojili OSCE/ODIHR i Venecijanska komisija te aktivnosti Komiteta za ljudska prava Ujedinjenih nacija (Ross protiv Kanade, Saopćenje broj 736/1997). Ta obaveza lojalnosti je zasnovana na manifestiranju ličnevolje uposlenika koji prihvata da odustane od ostvarivanja određenih zagarantiranih prava.

(c)  Katedra za pravo i religije Katoličkog univerziteta u Louvainu i Americain Religious Freedom Programm of the Ethics and Public Policy Center

  1. Ovo treće lice-umješač je istaklo da je princip autonomije religijskih zajednica naširoko priznat u međunarodnom pravu. Treće liceumješač se naročito pozvalo na član 18. Univerzalne deklaracije o ljudskim pravima. Ono je dalje istaklo da je Komitet za ljudska prava Ujedinjenih nacija izričito priznao pravo da se izaberu “religijski lideri, svećenici i nastavnici” kao garanciju autonomije religijskih zajednica kada se suočavaju s nastavnicima koji ne poštivaju religijske zahtjeve (Delgado Páez protiv Kolumbije, Saopćenje broj 195/1985, koji se odnosio na nastavnika vjerskog obrazovanja u jednoj srednjoj školi u Kolumbiji).
  2. Treće lice-umješač je također citiralo presudu koju je Vrhovni sud Sjedinjenih Američkih Država donio 11. januara 2012. godine u predmetu Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission et al., koji je po prvi put izričito priznao takozvani “pastoralni izuzetak”, kao doktrinu prema kojoj se zakoni o zabrani diskriminacije, koji se inače primjenjuju, ne mogu primjenjivati na “pastoralne uposlenike” (kategoriju koja uključuje nastavnike religijskog obrazovanja).

C.  Ocjena Suda

1.  Činjenice koje su navodno izmijenili Ustavni sud i Vijeće

  1. Sud ističe da se stranke ne slažu u pogledu činjenicakoje su rezultirale neobnavljenjem ugovora o radnom odnosu podnositelja predstavke. Podnositelj predstavke se žalio da je Vijeće u svojoj presudi slijedilo presudu Ustavnog sud uvodeći nove činjenice koje nije ustanovio Radni sud broj 3 u Mursiji. Naime, i Ustavni sud i Vijeće su predočili kritike podnositelja predstavke upućene Crkvi kao osnov za neobnavljanje ugovora, dok je u noti biskupa spomenut samo publicitet koji je podnositelj predstavke dao svojoj ličnoj situaciji. Prema Vladi, činjenice koje su motivirale biskupa da donese odluku su javne izjave podnositelja predstavke kojim je iznio na vidjelo svoj porodičnu situaciju i kritike na račun Crkve.
  2. Sud ističe da je Radni sud broj 3 u Mursiji zauzeo stanovište u svojoj presudi od 28. septembra 2000. godine da je podnositelj predstavke bio diskriminiran na osnovu svog bračnog statusa i članstva u udruženju MOCEOP budući da je njegovo pojavljivanje u štampi bio osnovni razlog za ono što sud je sud okvalificirao kao njegov otkaz (vidi, stav 25. gore). Prema tome, njegovo članstvo u pokretu je bilo dio činjenica koje su proglašene ustanovljenim. Na osnovu tih istih činjenica, Visoki sud pravde je došao do suprotnog zaključka.
  3. Nadalje, Sud ističe da je sam podnositelj predstavke, u svojoj žalbi amparo pred Ustavnim sudom, tvrdio da su njegov status člana MOCEOP-a te njegovo stanovište o neslaganju s celibatom katoličkihsvećenika bili uzrok neobnavljanja njegovog ugovora, te je zauzeo stanovište da to predstavlja povredu njegovog prava na pivatni život i slobodu religije. Ustavni sud je zasnovao svoje zaključke na ta dva elementa (vidi, stav 41. gore).
  4. Sadržaj note biskupa koji je u osnovi neobnavljanja ugovora nije u kontradikciji s onim što prethodi. Naime, izraz “situacija podnositelja predstavke” može razumno biti shvaćen na način da se odnosi i na njegov bračni status i na njegovo članstvo u MOCEOP-u. Prema tome, može se smatrati da ta dva elementa zajedno predstavljaju situaciju koja bi vjerovatno mogla izazvati “skandal” na koji se poziva biskup.
  5. Konačno, u vezi s javnim izjavama koje se pripisuju podnositelju predstavke (vidi, stav 139. dole), Sud smatra da ne postoji bilo koja naznaka u bilo kojoj domaćoj odluci da su ih domaći sudovi uzeli u obzir.
  6. In conclusio, ne može se reći da su se Ustavni sud ili Vijeće pozvali na bilo koje druge činjenice koje nisu one koje su ustanovili domaći sudovi koji su odlučivali u meritumu. Veliko vijećeće to uzeti u obzir.

2.  Relevantne odredbe Konvencije u ovom predmetu

  1. Potrebno je istaći na početku da je više članova Konvencije, naročitočlanovi 8, 9, 10. i 11, relevantno za ocjenu ovog predmeta. Član 8. je relevantan jer obuhvata pravo podnositelja predstavke na nastavak profesionalnog života, pravo na poštivanje njegovog porodičnog života i pravo da živi porodični život na otvoren način.Član 9. je relevantan jer štiti pravo podnositelja predstavke na slobodu misli i religije. Član 10. je relevantan jer štiti pravo podnositelja predstavke da izražava svoja mišljenja o službenim doktrinama Crkve i član 11. jer garantira njegovo pravo da bude član neke organizacija koja ima specifična stanovišta o pitanjima koja se odnose na religiju. Međutim, prema mišljenju Suda, osnovno pitanje u ovoj predstavci počiva u neobnavljanju ugovora podnositelja predstavke. Podnositelj predstavke se nije žalio da je bio spriječen da brani ili širi određene ideje, da bude član MOCEOP-a ili da je došlo do miješanja u njegov provatni život. Ono na šta se on u osnovi žali je da nije mogao ostati na mjestu nastavnika katoličke vjeronauke, što je bila direktna posljedica publiciteta koji je dat njegovoj porodičnoj situaciji i činjenice da je član MOCEOP-a. Iz tog razloga, Veliko vijeće zauzima stanovište, poput Vijeća, da je potrebno ispitati predstavku iz perspektive člana 8. Konvencije.

3.  U pogledu primjenjivosti člana 8.

  1. Dok iz člana 8. ne proizilazi nikakvo generalno pravo na zaposlenje ili obnavljanje ugovora na određeno vrijeme, Sud je ranije imao priliku da razmatra pitanje primjenjivosti člana 8. na domen zaposlenja. Prema tome, on ponavlja da je “privatni život” širok pojam koji ne može biti predmet konačne definicije (vidi, među ostalim presudama, Schüth, citirana gore, stav 53). Bilo bi suviše restriktivno ako bi se pojam “privatni život” ograničio na “intimni krug” u kojem pojedinac može živjeti svoj vlastiti život po svom izboru te ako bi se iz njega u potpunosti isključio vanjski svijet koji nije obuhvaćen tim krugom (vidi, Niemietz protiv Njemačke, od 16. decembra 1992, stav 29, Serija A broj 251-B).
  2. Prema sudskoj praksi Suda, ne postoji principijelni razlog da se smatra da pojam “privatnog života” isključuje profesionalne aktivnosti (vidi, Bigaeva protiv Grčke, broj 26713/05, stav 23, od 28. maja 2009. godine i Oleksandr Volkov protiv Ukrajine, broj 21722/11, st. 165-67, ECHR 2013). Ograničenja profesionalnog života nekog pojedinca mogu biti obuhvaćenačlanom 8. kada imaju reperkusije na način na koji pojedinac gradi svoj društveni identitet razvijanjem odnosa s drugima. Pored toga, profesionalni život je često usko povezan s privatnim životom, naročito ako se faktori koji se odnose na privatni život, u strogom smislu tog pojma, smatraju kvalificirajućim kriterijima za određenu profesiju (vidi, Özpınar protiv Turske, broj  20999/04, st. 43-48, od 19. oktobra 2010). Prema tome, profesionalni život je dio zone međudjelovanjaizmeđu nekog pojedinca i ostalih koji, čak i u kontekstu onoga što je javno, mogu biti obuhvaćeni opsegom “privatnog života” (vidi, Mółka protiv Poljske (odluka), broj 56550/00, ECHR 2006-IV).
  3. U ovom predmetu, međudjelovanjeizmeđu privatnog života stricto sensu i profesionalnog života je naročitouočljivobudući da uvjeti za tu vrstu specifičnog zasposlenja nisu samo tehničke sposobnosti nego i sposobnost da se “ističe istinskom doktrinom. svjedočenjem (...) kršćanskog života i (...) pedagoškom sposobnošću”(...),stvarajući tako direktnu vezu između ponašanja u okviru privatnog života i profesionalnih aktivnosti.
  4. Sud dalje ističe da je podnositelj predstavke, koji nije bio državni službenik, nego uposlenik i kojeg je plaćala država, bio nastavnik religijskog obrazovanja od 1991. godine na osnovu ugovora na određeno vrijeme koji su obnavljani na početku svake školske godine nakon što je biskup davao odobrenje u pogledu njegove podobnosti. Prema tome, dok je tačno da podnositelj predstavke nije nikada imao stalni ugovor, pretpostavka obnavljanja ugovora mu je pružala osnovan razlog da vjeruje da će se njegov ugovor obnavljati sve dok bude ispunjavao uvjete i dok ne postoje okolnosti koje bi mogle opravdati neobnavljanje ugovora na osnovu kanonskog prava. Prema mišljenju Suda, činjenice predmeta su donekle slične,mutatis mutandis, činjenicama iz predmeta Lombardi Vallauri protiv Italije (broj 39128/05, stav 38, presuda od 20. oktobra 2009. godine). U ovom predmetu, podnositelj predstavke je bio nastavnik vjerskog obrazovanja u kontinuitetu sedam godina te su ga cijenili i njegove kolege i uprava centara, što potvrđuje stabilnost njegove profesionalne situacije.
  5. Imajući u vidu te okolnosti, Sud smatra da je neobnavljanje ugovora podnositelja predstavke, zbog događaja koji su u osnovi vezani za lični izbor koji je napravio u kontekstu svog privatnog života, ozbiljno ugrozilo njegove mogućnosti da vrši specifičnu profesionalnu djelatnost. Imajući u vidu okolnosti u ovom predmetu, proizilazi da je član 8. primjenjiv.

4.  Poštivanje člana 8.

(a) U pogledu postojanja miješanja

  1. Sud ističe prije svega da je u osnovi cilj člana 8. da štiti pojedinca od proizvoljnog miješanja javnih vlasti, ali da on ne prisiljava državu samo da se uzdrži od takvog miješanja: pored te primarne negativne obaveze, mogu postojati pozitivne obaveze neodvojive od djelotvornog poštivanja privatnog života. Te obaveze mogu uključivati usvajanje mjera u svrhu osiguranja poštivanja privatnog života, čak i u domenu odnosa između samih pojedinaca. Linija razgraničenjaizmeđu pozitivnih obaveza države i negativnih obaveza na osnovu član 8. nije podložna preciznoj definiciji. Ipak, primjenjivi principi su slični. Naime, u oba slučaja je potrebno voditi računa o pravičnoj ravnoteži koja mora biti uspostavljena izmeđuopćeginteresa i interesa pojedinca; i u oba konteksta država uživa izvjesno polje procjene (vidi, Evans protiv Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva [VV], broj 6339/05, st. 75-76, ECHR 2007-I; Rommelfanger, citirana gore; i Fuentes Bobo protiv Španije, broj 39293/98, stav 38, od 29. februara 2000).
  2. Za razliku od Vijeća, Veliko vijeće smatra da pitanje u ovom predmetu nije da li je država obavezna, u kontekstu svojih pozitivnih obaveza iz člana 8, da osigura da pravo podnositelja predstavke na poštivanje njegovog privatnog života prevagne nad pravom Katoličke crkve da odbije da obnovi njegov ugovor (vidi, a contrario, mutatis mutandis, citirane presude u predmetima Obst, stav 43, Schüth, stav 57, i Siebenhaar, stav 38). Prema tome, Sud prihvata stav Ustavnog suda, koji je u svojoj presudi od 4. juna 2007. godine smatrao da iako javna vlast nije bila ta koja je uistinu donijela odluku o neobnavljanju ugovora, dovoljno je, kao u ovom predmetu, da je ta vlast intervenirala u posljednoj fazi da se odluka može smatrati aktom javne vlasti. Prema tome, Sud smatra da središte problema počiva na djelovanju državne vlasti koja je, kao poslodavac podnositelja predstavke i ona koja je direktno uključena u proces donošenja odluke, izvršila odluku biskupa o neobnavljanju ugovora. Dok Sud priznaje da je država imala ograničnemogućnosti djelovanja u ovom predmetu, potrebno je istaći da bi ugovor podnositelja predstavke sigurno bio obnovljen da Ministarstvo obrazovanja nije izvršilo odluku biskupa.
  3. Imajući u vidu navedeno, Sud zaključuje da je postupanje javnih vlasti, imajući u vidu okolnosti u ovom predmetu, predstavljalo miješanje u pravo podnositelja predstavke na poštivanje njegovog privatnog života.

 (b) “U skladu sa zakonom”

  1. Izraz “u skladu sa zakonom” prije svega iziskuje da osporena mjera bude zasnovana na domaćem pravu. Drugo, on se odnosi na kvalitet predmetnog zakona, iziskujući da bude dostupan dotičnoj osobi, koja mora, pored toga, biti u mogućnosti da predvidi posljedice po nju, i da bude u skladu s vladavinom prava (vidi, među ostalim presuama, Kopp protiv Švicarske, od 25. marta 1998, stav 55, Izvještaji 1998-II). Prema tome, taj izraz implicira, inter alia, da domaća legislacija mora koristiti dovoljno jasne izraze kako bi pojedincima naznačila na adekvatan način u kojim okolnostima i pod kojim uvjetima vlasti imaju pravo da pribjegavaju mjerama koje utiču na njihova prava iz Konvencije (vidi, C.G. i ostali protiv Bugarske, broj 1365/07, stav 39, od 24. aprila 2008).
  2. Sud ističe da je Ministarstvo obrazovanja djelovalo u skladu s odredbama člana III Sporazuma zaključenog 1979. godine između Španije i Svete Stolice, koji je dopunjen ministarskom odlukom od 11. oktobra 1982. godine, prema kojoj se imenovanje ne obnavlja ako biskup da suprotno mišljenje (...). Taj sporazum je međunarodni ugovor integriran kao takav u špansko pravo u skladu s Ustavom Španije (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Neulinger i Shuruk protiv Švicarske [VV], broj 41615/07, stav 99, ECHR 2010). Neobnavljanje ugovora podnositelja predstavke je, prema tome, zasnovano na španskom pravu na snazi.
  3. Ostaje da se ispita do kojeg stepena je podnositelj predstavke mogao predvidjeti da njegov ugovor neće biti obnovljen. Odlučujuće pitanje je stepen do kojeg je on mogao predvidjeti da će njegovo lično postupanje imati za posljedicu činjenicu da ga biskup neće više smatrati za podobnog kandidata i da, prema tome, njegov ugovor neće biti obnovljen. U tom kontekstu, Sud ističe da se biskup Kartahene pozvao naročito na pojam “skandala” kako bi odbio produženje ugovora podnositelja predstavke (vidi, stav 19. gore). Iako pojam skandala nije izričito naveden u kanonima 804. i 805. Zakonika o kanonskom pravu (...), koji se odnose na nastavnike religijskog obrazovanja, može se smatrati da se on odnosi na pojmove – i da je, prema tome, objašnjen njima – koji sami postoje u kanonima, kao što su “istinska doktrina”, “svjedočenje o kršćanskom životu” ili “religijski ili moralni razlozi”. U tom pogledu, Sud smatra da primjenjive odredbe u ovom predmetu ispunjavaju zahtjeve koji se odnose na predvidivost njihovih dejstava. Naime, budući da je podnositelj predstavke bio direktor sjemeništa, razumno je pretpostaviti da je bio svjestan obaveze u smislu veće lojalnosti koju je imao na osnovu crkvenog prava te da je, prema tome, mogao predvidjeti, uprokos činjenici da je njegova situacija tolerirana godinama, da je javno manifestiranje militantnog stava o izvjesnim propisima Crkve u suprotnosti s odredbama kanonskog prava i da neće ostati bez posljedica. Imajući u vidu da su izrazi iz Sporazuma između Španije i Svete Stolice jasni, on je mogao također razumno predvidjeti da njegov ugovor neće biti obnovljen u slučaju izostanka uvjerenja o podobnosti od Crkve (vidi, mutatis mutandis,Sindicatul “Păstorul cel Bunprotiv Rumunije [VV], broj 2330/09, stav 155, od 9. jula 2013).
  4. Prema tome, Sud je spreman da prihvati, poput domaćih sudova, da je osporeno miješanje bilo zasnovano na relevantnim odredbama Sporazuma zaključenog 1979. godine između Španije i Svete Stolice, koji je dopunjen ministarskom odlukom od 11. oktobra 1982. godine, i da te odredbe zadovoljavaju zahtjeve “zakonitosti” koji su uspostavljeni u njegovoj sudskoj praksi (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Miroļubovs i ostali protiv Latvije, broj 798/05, stav 78, od 15. septembra 2009).
  5. In conclusio, Sud smatra da je osporeno miješanje bilo u skladu sa zakonom.

(c) Legitiman cilj

  1. Poput stranaka u postupku, Sud smatra da je predmetna odluka o neobnavljanju ugovora u ovom predmetu slijedila legitiman cilj zaštite prava i sloboda drugih, naime onih Katoličke crkve, a naročito autonomiju u pogledu izbora osoba koje su podobne da predaju religijsku doktrinu.

(d) Neophodnost u demokratskom društvu

(i)  Generalni principi

(α)  Uspostavljanje ravnoteže između prava

  1. Sud podsjeća da, kada je pozvan da odlučuje o konfliktu između dvoje prava koja su jednako zaštićena Konvencijom, on mora odmjeriti predmetne interese (vidi, presude Siebenhaar, Schüth i Obst, citirane gore). U ovom predmetu, to uspostavljanje ravnoteže se odnosi na pravo podnositelja predstavke na privatni i porodični život, s jedne strane, i pravo religijskih organizacija na autonomiju, s druge strane. Država mora garantirati oba prava te, ako zaštita jednog vodi miješanju u drugo, odabrati adekvatna sredstva da bi to miješanje bilo proporcionalno cilju kojem se teži. U tom kontekstu, Sud prihvata da država ima široko polje procjene (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Sindicatul “Păstorul cel Bun”,citirana gore, stav 160, i, mutatis mutandis, Von Hannover protiv Njemačke (broj 2) [VV], br. 40660/08 i 60641/08, st. 104-107, ECHR 2012).
  2. Miješanje se smatra “neophodnim u demokratskom društvu” da bi se postigao legitiman cilj ako odgovara “nužnoj duštvenoj potrebi” i, naročito, ako je proporcionalno legitimnom cilju koji se slijedi i ako su razlozi koje su predočiledomaće vlasti da bi ga opravdale “relevantni i dovoljni” (vidi, na primjer, Coster protiv Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva [VV], broj 24876/94, stav 104, od 18. januara 2001, i S. i Marper protiv Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva [VV], broj 30562/04 i 30566/04, stav 101, ECHR 2008).
  3. Dok je na domaćim vlastima da prvo ocijene da li su svi uvjeti ispunjeni, na Sudu je da konačnoodluči o pitanju da li je miješanje bilo neophodno prema zahtjevima Konvencije. Određeno polje procjene mora biti ostavljeno nadležnim domaćim vlastima pri toj ocjeni. Opseg tog polja varira i ovisi o nizu faktora, uključujući prirodu miješanja i cilj kojem se teži tim miješanjem. To polje je uže kada je predmetno pravo krucijalno za djelotvorno uživanje “intimnih” ili ključnih prava pojedinca. Kada se radi o važnom aspektu egzistencije ili identiteta pojedinca, polje procjene koje je ostavljeno državi je ograničeno.Međutim, kada ne postoji konsenzus u okviru država članicaVijeća Evrope u pogledu relativne važnosti predmetnog interesa ili u pogledu najboljih sredstava za zaštitu, polje će biti šire (vidi, S. i Marper, citirana gore, st. 101-102). Polje procjene ćeobično biti široko ako se od države zahtijeva da uspostavi ravnotežu između konkurentnih privatnih i javnih interesa ili različitih prava iz Konvencije (vidi, Obst, citirana gore, stav 42).

(β)  Pravo na uživanje privatnog i porodičnog života

  1. U pogledu prava na privatni i porodični život, Sud ističe da je za pojedince važno da mogu slobodno odlučiti kako će voditi svoj privatni i porodični život. U tom pogledu, Sud ponavlja da član 8. štiti i pravo na samoispunjenje, bilo u formi ličnog razvoja (vidi, Christine Goodwin protiv Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva [VV], broj 28957/95, stav 90, ECHR 2002-VI), bilo sa stanovišta prava da se uspostave i razvijaju odnosi s drugim ljudskim bićima ili vanjskim svijetom, budući da je pojam lične autonomije važan princip koji podrazumijeva tumačenje garancija naznačenih u toj odredbi (vidi, Pretty protiv Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva, broj 2346/02, stav 61, ECHR 2002-III). Prema tome, podrazumijeva se samo po sebi da je pravo pojedinca da se oženi i da objavi taj izbor zaštićeno Konvencijom, a naročitočlanom 8, u vezi s ostalim relevantnim članovima (vidi, stav 108. gore).

(γ)  Obaveza države da štiti autonomiju Crkve

-  Opseg autonomije religijskih zajednica

  1. U pogledu autonomije vjerskih grupa, Sud ističe da religijske zajednice tradicionalno i univerzalno postoje u formi organiziranih struktura. U pogledu organizaciji religijske zajednice, član 9. Konvencije se mora tumačiti u svjetlu člana 11, koji štiti udruženi život od neopravdanog miješanja države. Pravo vjernika na slobodu religije, iz te perspektive, obuhvata očekivanje da će im biti dozvoljeno da se slobodno udružuju, bez proizvoljnog miješanja države. Autonomno postojanje religijskih zajednica je neophodno za pluralizam u demokratskom društvu te je, prema tome, pitanje koje se nalazi u središtu zaštite koju dodjeljuje član 9. Konvencije. Ono predstavlja direktan interes ne samo za organiziranje tih zajednica nego i za djelotvorno uživanje prava na slobodu religije svih njenih aktivnih članova. Da organiziranje članova zajednice nije zaštićenočlanom 9. Konvencije, svi drugi aspekti slobode pojedinca na religiju bi se našli pogođenim (vidi, Hasan i Chaush, citirana gore, stav 62; Metropolitska crkva Besarabije i ostali protiv Moldavije, broj 45701/99, stav 118, ECHR 2001-XII; i Sveti Sinod Bugarske ortodoksne crkve (Metropolit Inoćentije) i ostali protiv Bugarske, br. 412/03 i 35677/04, stav 103, od 22. januara 2009).
  2. Govoreći specifičnije o unutrašnjoj autonomiji religijskih grupa, član 9. Konvencije ne garantira nikavo pravo na neslaganje unutar religijske zajednice; u slučaju bilo kakvog neslaganja u pogledu doktrine ili organizacije između neke religijske zajednice i njenih članova, sloboda religije pojedinca se ostvaruje opcijom slobodnog napuštanja zajednice (vidi, Miroļubovs i ostali, citirana gore, stav 80). Osim toga, u tom kontekstu, Sud je često isticao ulogu države kao neutralnog i nepristrasnog organizatora religijske prakse, vjera i uvjerenja, te je istakao da ta uloga doprinosi javnom redu, religijskoj harmoniji i toleranciji u demokratskom društvu, naročitoizmeđu suprotnih grupa (vidi, među ostalim presudama, Hasan i Chaush, citirana gore, stav 78, i Leyla Şahin protiv Turske [VV], broj 44774/98, stav 107, ECHR 2005-XI). Poštivanje autonomije religijskih zajednica koje je priznala država implicira, naročito, da država prihvata pravo takvih zajednica da reagiraju u skladu s vlastitim pravilima i interesima na bilo koje disidentske pokrete koji se pojavljuju unutar njih koji bi mogli predstavljati prijetnju njihovoj koheziji, slici ili jedinstvu. Prema tome, domaće vlasti nemaju zadatak da djeluju kao arbitar između religijskih zajednica i raznih disidentskih frakcija koje postoje ili koje bi se mogle pojaviti unutar njih (vidi, Sindicatul “Păstorul cel Bun”, citirana gore, stav 165).
  3. Sud dalje ponavlja da, osim u veoma izuzetnim slučajevim, pravo na slobodu religije, kao što je zagarantirano Konvencijom, isključuje diskrecijsko pravo države da procjenjuje da li su religijska vjerovanja ili sredstva korištena da bi se izrazila ta vjerovanja legitimna (vidi, Hasan i Chaush, citirana gore, st. 62 i 78). Osim toga, princp religijske autonomije sprečava državu da obavezuje neku religijsku zajednicu da prihvati ili isključi nekog pojedinca ili povjeri nekome određenu religijsku obavezu (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Svyato-Mykhaylivska Parafiya protiv Ukrajine, broj 77703/01, stav 146, od 14. juna 2007).
  4. Konačno, kada se pojave pitanja o odnosu između države i religija, u vezi s kojima mogu razumno postojati duboka razilaženja u demokratskom društvu, poseban značaj se mora dati ulozi domaćeg organa koji donosi odluku (vidi, Leyla Şahin, citirana gore, stav 109). To je naročitoslučaj kada u praksi evropskih država postoji velika raznolikost ustavnih modela koji uređuju odnose između države i religijskih denominacija (vidi, Sindicatul “Păstorul cel Bun”, citirana gore, stav 138).

-  Obaveza lojalnosti

  1. Sud priznaje da vjerske zajednice, zbog svoje autonomije, mogu zahtijevati izvjestan stepen lojalnosti od onih koji rade za njih ili ih predstavljaju. U tom kontekstu, Sud je već isticao da je priroda mjesta na kojem su zaposlene te osobe važan element koji je potrebno uzeti u obzir pri ocjenjivanju propocionalnosti neke restriktivne mjere koju poduzima država ili dotična vjerska organizacija (vidi, Obst, citirana gore, st. 48-51, i Schüth, citirana gore, stav 69). Naime, specifična misija koja je povjerena određenimosobama u nekoj religijskoj organizaciji je relevantan razlog pri određivanju da li bi ta osoba mogla biti predmet veće obaveze lojalnosti.

-  Granice autonomije

  1. majući u vidu navedeno, puki navod religijske zajednice da postoji stvarna ili potencijalna prijetnja njenoj autonomiji nije dovoljna da bi miješanje u pravo njenih članova na poštivanje njihovog privatnog ili porodičnog života bilo u skladu sa članom 8. Konvencije. Pored toga, predmetne religijske zajednice moraju također dokazati, u svjetlu okolnosti pojedinačnog predmeta, da je navedeni rizik vjerovatan i stvaran, da osporeno miješanje u pravo na poštivanje privatnog života ne ide dalje od onoga što je potrebno da bi se uklonio taj rizik i da ne služi nekoj drugoj svrsi koje se ne odnosi na ostvarivanje autonomije religijske zajednice. Ono ne smije ugroziti ni suštinu prava na privatni i porodični život. Sudovi moraju osigurati da ti uvjeti budu ispunjeni opsežnim ispitivanjem okolnosti predmeta i temeljitim uspostavljanjem ravnoteže između konkurentnih predmetnih interesa (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Sindicatul “Pastorul cel Bun”, citirana gore, stav 159).

 (ii)  Primjena navedenih principa na ovaj predmet

  1. Pri primjenjivanju tih principa na ovaj predmet, Sud smatra da mora voditi računa o sljedećim faktorima.

(α)  Status podnositelja predstavke

  1. Sud prvo ističe da je Vatikan oslobodio podnositelja predstavke obaveze celibata nakon objavljivanja članka u novinama. Prema tome, budući da je i oženjen čovjek i svećenik, njegov status u relevantno vrijeme je bio nejasan. S jedne strane, njegov status zaređenogsvećenika se nije promijenio sa stanovišta Crkve – barem ne službeno – te su ga, iz vanjske perspektive, mogli još uvijek smatrati predstavnikom Katoličke crkve budući da je još uvijek predavao katoličku vjeronauku. S druge strane, on je oženjen i poznat kao bivši svećenik. Osim toga, mora se uzeti u obzir činjenica da je njegovu platu nastavnika plaćala država, iako indirektno budući da je Vlada istakla da su nastavnici religijskog obrazovanja u relevantno vrijeme primali platu direktno od Katoličke crkve kojoj je država davala potrebna sredstva u formi subvencija.
  2. Kakva god da je bila situacija, Sud smatra je podnositelj predstavke, potpisujući uzastopno svoje ugovore o radnom odnosu, svjesno i dobrovoljno prihvatio veću obavezu lojalnosti prema Katoličkoj crkvi, što je ograničilo opseg njegovog prava na poštivanje privatnog i porodičnog života do izvjesnog stepena. Takva ugovorna ograničenja su prihvatljiva na osnovu Konvencije kada su prihvaćena slobodnom voljom (vidi, Rommelfanger, citirana gore). Naravno, s tačke gledišta interesa Crkve da brani koherentnost svojih propisa, podučavanje adolescenata katoličkoj vjeronauci se može smatrati krucijalnom funkcijom koja iziskuje posebnu odanost. Sud nije ubijeđen da je ta ugovorna obaveza lojanosti prestala postojati u vrijeme objavljivanja članka u novinama La Verdad. Iako je status podnositelja predstavke kao oženjenog svećenika bio nejasan, obaveza lojalnosti se još uvijek mogla očekivati od njega budući da ga je biskup prihvatio kao podobnog predstavnika za držanje časova iz katoličke vjeronauke.

 (β)  Publicitet koji je dao podnositelj predstavke svojoj situaciji kao oženjeni svećenik

  1. Sud prvo ističeda nije podnositelj predstavke taj koji je sam objavio članak o svojim stanovištima ili svom porodičnom životu, nego novinar koji je pisao o sastanku MOCEOP-a te objavio i fotografiju koja prikazuje podnositelja predstavke i njegovu porodicu te rezime stanovišta koje brani grupa bivših svećenika,uključujući podnositelja predstavke. Međutim, relevantno je da je većina drugih učesnika na sastanku, za razliku od podnositelja predstavke, izbjegavala kontakt s novinarima. U vezi s pitanjem da li je podnositelj predstavke namjerno pozirao za spornu fotografiju, što je pitanje koju su stranke osporavale, Sud smatra da odgovor na to pitanje nije osnovni. Čak i pod pretpostavkom da su ga fotografirali bez njegove dozvole, može se konstatirati da ne postoje dokazi u spisu koji pokazuju da se podnositelj predstavke žalio na pojavljivanje u štampi korištenjem sredstava koja su mu bila na raspolaganju na osnovu domaćeg prava. Sud smatra da je podnositelj predstavke, prihvatanjem objavljivanja svoje porodične situacije i učestvovanjem na skupu koji je biskup smatrao protestnim, prekinuo poseban odnos povjerenja koji bio potreban za ispunjavanje zadataka koji su mu bili povjereni. Imajući u vidu značaj nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja za vjerske grupe, nije uopćeiznenađujuće da je taj prekid imao određene posljedice. Prema tome, Sud vidi oslobađanje od obaveze, trinaest godina nakon što je to podnositelj predstavke tražio i ubrzo nakon objavljivanja novinskog članka, kao dio sankcije nametnute podnositelju predstavke zbog njegovih postupaka.
  2. Prema mišljenju Suda, nije nerazumno da neka Crkva ili religijska zajednica očekuje posebnu lojalnost od nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja budući da ih može smatrati svojim predstavnicima. Postojanje nepodudaranja između ideja koje se moraju predavati i ličnih uvjerenja nastavnika može pokrenuti pitanje kredibiliteta ako nastavnik aktivno i javno vodi kampanju protiv predmetnih ideja (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Siebenhaar,citirana gore, stav 46). Prema tome, u ovom predmetu, problem leži u činjenici da je podnositelj predstavke mogao biti shvaćen na način da vodi kampanju u prilog svog načina života kako bi prouzrokovao promjenu crkvenih pravila, i u otvorenim kritikama tih pravila.

(γ)  Publicitet koji je podnositelj predstavke dao svom članstvu u MOCEOP-u kao oženjeni svećenik

  1. Dok su se stranke složile da je općepoznato da je podnositelj predstavke oženjen i da ima petero djece, nije jasno do kojeg stepena je njegovo članstvo u jednoj organizaciji, čiji su ciljevi nesukladni službenoj crkvenoj doktrini, bilo također poznato javnosti prije objavljivanja članka. U tom kontekstu, prema mišljenju Suda, potrebno je uzeti u obzir specifičan sadržaj časova koje je držao podnositelj predstavke. Nastavnik religijskog obrazovanja, koji pripada nekoj organizaciji i promovira neku organizaciju zastupajući ideje koje su u suprotnosti s učenjem te religije, se mora razlikovati od, na primjer, nastavnika jezika koji je u isto vrijeme članKomunističke partije (vidi, Vogt protiv Njemačke, od 26. septembra 1995. godine, Serija A broj 323). U prvom slučaju,veća obaveza lojalnosti je opravdana činjenicom da religiju, da bi ostala vjerodostojna, mora predavati osoba čijinačin života i javne izjave nisu flagrantno u suprotnosti s predmetnom religijom, naročito kada se pretpostavlja da religija regulira privatni život i lična uvjerenja svojih sljedbenika (vidi, Direktiva 2000/78/EC; Schüth, citirana gore, stav 40; Obst, citirana gore, stav 27; i Lombardi Vallauri, citirana gore, stav 41). Iz tog razloga, puka činjenica da ne postoje dokazi koji sugeriraju da je podnositelj predstavke, za vrijeme dok je držao časove, predavao išta što je inkompatibilno s doktrinom Katoličke crkve nije dovoljna da bi se zaključilo da je ispunjavao svoju veću obavezu (vidi, Vogt, citirana gore).
  2. U pogledu izjava koje se pripisuju podnositelju predstavke nakon objavljivanja novinskog članka, potrebno je istaći da je u člankunaznačeno da su četvorica imenovanih učesnika skupa izrazili predmetne primjedbe, od kojih je jedan bio podnositelj predstavke, koji je usput naveden u članku kao bivši direktor sjemeništa. Prema tom članku, ta četvoricaučesnika,uključujući podnositelja predstavke, su su dali podršku kontracepciji i izrazili neslaganje sa stanovištem Katoličke crkve o ostalim pitanjima, kao što su abortus, kontrola rađanja i fakultativni celibat svećenika.
  3. Prema mišljenju Suda, samo po sebi se podrazumijeva da je ta vrsta primjedbi obuhvaćena slobodom izražavanja koja je zaštićenačlanom 10. Konvencije. Ipak, i čak iako domaći sudovi nisu uzeli u obzir te primjedbe (vidi, stav 106. gore), to ne znači da Katolička crkva ne može reagirati na njih prilikom uživanja svoje autonomije, što je takođerzaštićeno Konvecijom, na osnovu člana 9. U tom pogledu, Sud ističe da je pri ocjenjivanju ozbiljnosti postupka nekog pojedinca kojeg zapošljava Crkva potrebno uzeti u obzir bliskost između aktivnosti osobe i proklamatorne misije Crkve (vidi, Schüth, citirana gore, stav 69). U ovom predmetu, bliskost je očigledno velika.
  4. Prema tome, podnositelj predstavke je bio dobrovoljno dio kruga pojedinaca koji su vezani, iz razloga vjerodostojnosti, obavezom lojalnosti prema Katoličkoj crkvi, što orgraničava njegovo pravo na privatni život do određenog stepena. Prema mišljenju Suda, biti viđen u javnom vođenju kampanje u okviru pokreta koji se protivi katoličkoj doktrini je jasno u suprotnosti s tom obavezom. Osim toga, skoro da ne postoji sumnja da je podnositelj predstavke, kao bivši svećenik i direktor sjemeništa, bio ili morao biti svjestan sadržaja i značaja te obaveze (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Obst, citirana gore, stav 50).
  5. Nadalje, Sud smatra da su promjene koje je proizveo publicitet koji je dat članstvu podnositelja predstavke u MOCEOP-u i primjedbe koje su se pojavile u članku utoliko više značajne jer je podnositelj predstavke davao časove adolescentima, koji nisu dovoljno zreli da bi napravili razliku između informacija koje proizilaze iz doktrine Katoličke crkve i onih koje odgovaraju ličnom mišljenju podnositelja predstavke.

 (δ)  Odgovornost države kao poslodavca

  1. Sud dalje ističe da je podnositelja predstavke u ovom predmetu, kao i sve nastavnike religijskog obrazovanja u Španiji, za razliku od situacije u tri njemačka predmeta koji su citirani gore, Siebenhaar, Schüth i Obst, u kojima su poslodavci podnositelja predstavki bile njihove crkve, zapošljavala i plaćala država. Međutim, taj aspekt nije takav da utiče na stepen obaveze lojalnosti koji je nametnut podnositelju predstavke vis-à-visKatoličke crkve ili mjera koje ona može poduzeti ako je ta obaveza prekršena. Ovu analizu potvrđuječinjenica da crkve i religijske zajednice, u većini država članicaVijeća Evrope, imaju ovlast ko-odlučivanja ili čakisključivu ulogu pri određivanju i otpuštanju nastavnika religijskog obrazovanja, bez obzira koja institucija finansira takvo obrazovanje, direktno ili indirektno (...).

 (ε)  Težina sankcije

  1. Sud je prethodno zaključioda je od posebne važnosti, iako u kontekstu koji je malo drugačiji, da će uposlenik kojeg je otpustio crkveni poslodavac imati ograničenemogućnosti da nađe drugi posao. To je posebno tako kada poslodavac zauzima predominantno mjesto u datom sektoru djelatnosti te su mu omogućena izvjesna odstupanja od opće legislacije ili kada otpušteni uposlenik ima specfične kvalifikacije tako da mu je taško, čaknemoguće,naći novi posao izvan Crkve koja ga zapošljava, kao što je slučaj u ovom predmetu (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Schüth, citirana gore, stav 73).
  2. U vezi s posljedicama neobnavljanja ugovora o radu po podnositelja predstavke, nema sumnje da je ta odluka predstavljala sankciju s ozbiljnim posljedicama za njegov privatni i porodični život. Međutim, u svojoj službenoj noti, biskup je uzeo u obzir te poteškoćeističući da će podnositelj predstavke imati pravo na naknadu za nezaposlenost (vidi, stav 19. gore). Potrebno je istaći u tom pogledu da je podnositelj predstavke zaista primao takvu naknadu nakon neobnavljanja ugovora.
  3. Posljedice po podnositelja predstavke se moraju vidjeti i u svjetlu činjenice da je on svjesno doveo sebe u situaciju koja nije u skladu s propisima Crkve. Kao rezultat nekadašnjih odgovornosti u okviru Crkve, podnositelj predstavke je bio svjestan njenih pravila te je znao da ga njegovo postupanja stavlja u situaciju nesigurnosti vis-à-vis biskupa te čini obnavljanje njegovog ugovora ovisnim o diskrecijskoj odluci biskupa. Prema tome, on je morao očekivati da publicitet, koji je dobrovoljno dao svom članstvu u MOCEOP-u, neće ostati bez posljedica po njegov ugovor. Sud ističe da je podnositelj predstavke, iako nije primio nikakvo prethodno upozorenje prije odluke o neobnavljanju ugovora, znao da je njegov ugovor predmet obnavljanja na godišnjoj osnovi ako ga odobri biskup, dakle, uključujućimogućnost da biskup ocjenjuje, na redovnoj osnovi, ispunjavanje veće obaveze lojalnost podnositelja predstavke. Konačno, podnositelj predstavke je znao u tom pogledu da je Crkva već pokazala toleranciju kada mu je dozvolila da predaje katoličku vjeronauku šest godina, tj. sve dok njegova lična situacija, koja nije bila u skladu s propisima te religije, nije bila promovirana javno. Osim toga, potrebno je istaći u svrhu ovog predmeta da manje restriktivna mjera za podnositelja predstavke ne bi zasigurno imala dejstva u smislu očuvanja kredibiliteta Ckrve. Prema tome, ne čini se da su posljedice odluke da se ne obnovi njegov ugovor prevelike u okolnostima ovog predmeta, imajućinaročito u vidu činjenicu da je podnositelj predstavke sebe svjesno stavio u situaciju koja je u potpunosti u suprotnosti s propisima Crkve.

 (ζ)  Preispitivanje domaćih sudova

  1. Konačno, u pogledu preispitivanja koje su obavili domaći sudovi, potrebno je istaći da, iako član 8. ne sadrži nikakve eksplicitne proceduralne zahtjeve, Sud ne može ocijeniti na zadovoljavajućinačin da li su razlozi koje su predočiledomaće vlasti u svojim odlukama bili “dovoljni” u svrhu člana 8. stav 2, a da ne određuje u isto vrijeme da li je postupak donošenja odluke u cjelini obezbijedio podnositelju predstavke potrebnu zaštitu njegovih interesa (vidi, W. protiv Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva, od 8. jula 1987, st. 62 i 64, Serija A broj 121; Elsholz protiv Njemačke [VV], broj 25735/94, stav 52, ECHR 2000-VIII; i Sahin protiv Njemačke [VV],broj 30943/96, stav 68, ECHR 2003-VIII).
  2. U ovom predmetu, Sud ističe na početku da je podnositelju predstavke data mogućnost da se žali na neobnavljanje ugovora pred Radnim sudom, a potom pred Visokim sudom pravde u Mursiji, koji su ispitali zakonitost osporene mjere na osnovu radnog prava, uzimajući u obzir crkveno pravo, te odmjerili konkurentne interese podnositelja predstavke i Katoličke crkve (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Siebenhaar, citirana gore; Schüth, citirana gore, stav 59; i Obst, citirana gore, stav 45). Na posljednjoj instanci, podnositelj predstavke je uložio žalbu amparo Ustavnom sudu.
  3. U tom pogledu, Sud ističe da je pojam autonomije religijskih zajednica, prema španskom pravu, dopunjen principom neutralnosti države naspram religije, kao što to priznaje član 16. stav 3. Ustava. Taj princip zabranjuje domaćim vlastima da se izjašnjavaju o sadržaju religijskih pojmova kao što je “skandal” ili celibat svećenika. Naravno, obaveza lojalnosti nije neograničena, kao što je sam Ustavni sud naznačio u zaključku da se u takvim predmetima radi o pomirenju zahtjeva religijske slobode i neutralnosti države naspram religije sa sudskom zaštitom osnovnih prava i radnog odnosa nastavnika. Tako je Ustavni sud zaključio u jednom predmetu, koji se odnosio na odluku o neobnavljanju ugovora jedne nastavnice religijskog obrazovanja zbog njenog građanskog braka s razvedenim muškarcem, da je došlo do povrede prava podnositeljice žalbe da ne bude predmet diskriminacije i prava na poštivanje njene slobode mišljenja u vezi s brakom, te prava na njenu ličnu i porodičnu privatnost

(...).

  1. U ovom predmetu, koji je sličan, ali se razlikuje po izvjesnim značajnim aspektima od navedenog predmeta, domaći sudovi su zaključili da se moraju ograničiti na provjeravanje poštivanja osnovnih predmetnih prava u ovom predmetu budući da je obrazloženje odluke o neobnavljanju ugovora bilo striktno religijsko. Naime, nakon što je pažljivo ispitao činjenice, Ustavni sud je zauzeo stanovište da obaveza države da bude neutralna zabranjuje državi da se izjašanjava o pojmu “skandal”, koji je koristio biskup prilikom odbijanja obnavljanja ugovora podnositelja predstavke, ili o meritumu fakultativnog celibata svećenika kojeg podržava podnositelj predstavke. Međutim, on je ispitao stepen miješanja u prava podnositelja predstavke te zauzeo stanovište da ono nije ni disproporcionalno ni neustavno, nego opravdano u smislu poštivanja zakonitog uživanja prava Katoličke crkve na slobodu religije u svojoj kolektivnoj dimenziji i dimenziji zajednice, u vezi s pravom roditelja da izaberu religijsko obrazovanje za svoju djecu (vidi, stav 43. gore). Iako su roditelji djece koja su pohađalačasove podnositelja predstavke izrazili podršku nakon publiciteta koji je dobila situacija, Sud smatra da argument Dijeceze nije bio nerazuman budući da je njegov cilj bila zaštita integriteta podučavanja.
  2. U svjetlu navedenog, Sud smatra da su domaći sudovi uzeli u obzir relevantne faktore i, premda su istakli pravo podnositelja predstavke na slobodu izražavanja (vidi, stav 45. gore), odmjerili predmetne interese detaljno i opsežno (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Obst, citirana gore, stav 49) u okviru granica koje im nameće nužno poštivanje autonomije Katoličke crkve. Zaključci do kojih su došli se ne čine nerazumnim Sudu, naročito u svjetlu činjenice da je podnositelj predstavke, budući da je bio svećenik i direktor sjemeništa, bio ili morao biti svjestan, prilikom prihvatanja zadatka predavanja iz katoličke vjeronauke, potencijalnih posljedica veće obaveze lojalnosti vis-à-visKatoličke crkve kojom se obavezao naspram Katoličke crkve s ciljem, naročito,očuvanja kredibiliteta svog podučavanja (vidi, mutatis mutandis, Obst, citirana gore, stav 50). Činjenica da je Ustavni sud obavio temeljitu analizu je jošočiglednija jer su dva mišljenja o neslaganju priložena njegovoj odluci, što pokazuje da je sud ispitao problem iz različitih uglova, uzdržavajući se od donošenja odluke o meritumu principa kojih se drži Katolička crkva. U vezi s autonomijom Crkve, ne čini se, u svjetlu preispitivanja koje su obavili domaći sudovi, da je pozivanje na nju bilo neispravno u ovom predmetu, tj. ne može reći da je odluka biskupa da ne obnnovi ugovor podnositelja predstavke bila nedovoljno obrazložena ili da je donesena s ciljem koji nije u vezi s uživanjem autonomije Katoličke crkve.

 (e) Zaključak

  1. In conclusio, imajućiu vidu polje procjene države u ovom predmetu, Sud smatra da miješanje u pravo podnositelja predstavke na poštivanje njegovog privatnog života nije bilo disproporcionalno.
  2. Prema tome, član 8. Konvencije nije prekršen.

(...).

IZ TIH RAZLOGA, SUD

1.  Odlučuje, s devet glasova naspram osam, da član 8. Konvencije nije prekršen;

(...)

Sastavljena na engleskom i francuskom jeziku te izrečena na javnoj raspravi u Palati ljudskih prava u Strasbourgu 12. juna 2014. godine u skladu s pravilom 77. st. 2. i 3. Pravila Suda.

Johan Callewaert

Dean Spielmann

Zamjenik registrara

Predsjednik

U skladu sa članom 45. stav 2. Konvencije i pravilom 74. stav 2. Pravila Suda, sljedeća izdvojena mišljenja se nalaze u prilogu ove presude:

(a)  Zajedničko mišljenje o neslaganju sljedećih sudija: Spielmann, Sajò, Karakaş, Lemmens, Jäderblom, Vehabović, Dedov i Saiz Arnaiz;

(...)

(c)     Mišljenje o neslaganju sudije Sajò;

(d)    Mišljenje o neslaganju sudije Dedova.

D.S.

J.C.

Izdvojena mišljenja nisu prevedena, ali ih sadrži presuda na engleskom i/ili francuskom jeziku, kao službenim jezicima, te se mogu pročitati u bazi podataka o sudskoj praksi Suda HUDOC.

 

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GRAND CHAMBER

CASE OF FERNÁNDEZ MARTÍNEZ v. SPAIN

(Application no. 56030/07)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

12 June 2014

 

In the case ofFernándezMartínez v. Spain,

The European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chambercomposed of:

Dean Spielmann, President,
Guido Raimondi,
Mark Villiger,
Isabelle Berro-Lefèvre,
JánŠikuta,
George Nicolaou,
AndrásSajó,
Ann Power-Forde,
IşılKarakaş,
Angelika Nußberger,
André Potocki,
Paul Lemmens,
Helena Jäderblom,
ValeriuGriţco,
FarisVehabović,
Dmitry Dedov, judges,
Alejandro SaizArnaiz,ad hoc judge,
and Johan Callewaert, Deputy Grand Chamber Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 30 January 2013 and 2 April 2014,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last-mentioned date:

PROCEDURE

1.  The case originated in an application (no. 56030/07) against the Kingdom of Spain lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Spanish national, Mr José Antonio FernándezMartínez (“the applicant”), on 11 December 2007.

2.  The applicant, who had been granted legal aid, was represented by Mr J.L. Mazón Costa, a lawyer practising in Murcia. The Spanish Government (the Government) were represented by their Agents, Mr I. Blasco Lozano, Mr F. Irurzun Montoro and Mr F. SanzGandásegui,State Counsel.

3.  Relying on Article 8 of the Convention, taken separately and in conjunction with Article 14, the applicant submittedthat the non-renewal of his contract of employment as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics in a State secondary school had constituted an unjustified interference with the exercise of his right to private life. He alleged that the publicity given to his family and personal situation as a married priest had been the cause of the non-renewal and that this wasincompatible with his rights to freedom of thought and freedom of expression under Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention.

4.  On 13 October 2009 notice of the application was given to the Government.

5.  LuisLópez Guerra, the judge elected in respect of Spain, withdrew from sitting in the case. The Government accordingly appointed Alejandro SaizArnaiz to sit as an ad hoc judge (Article 27 § 2 of the Convention, as then in force, and Rule 29 § 1 of the Rules of Court).

6.  A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 22 November 2011 (Rule 59 § 3).

7.  On 15 May 2012 a Chamber of the Third Section composed of JosepCasadevall, President, CorneliuBîrsan, AlvinaGyulumyan, Egbert Myjer, InetaZiemele, Mihai Poalelungi, judges, and Alejandro SaizArnaiz, ad hoc judge, and Santiago Quesada, Section Registrar, delivered a judgment in which it held, by six votes to one, that there had been no violation of Article 8 § 1 of the Convention.

8.  On 18 July 2012 the applicant requested, in accordance with Article 43 of the Convention and Rule 73, that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber, arguing that there had been a violation of Article 8 § 1. On 24 September 2012 a panel of the Grand Chamber granted the request.

9.  The composition of the Grand Chamber was determined according to the provisions of Article 26 §§ 4 and 5 of the Convention and Rule 24.

10.  The applicant and the Government each filed further observations before the Grand Chamber. In addition, third-party comments were received from the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the European Centre for Law and Justice, and the Chair for Law and Religions of the Universitécatholique de Louvain and the American Religious Freedom Program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which had been given leave by the President to intervene in the written procedure (Article 36 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 3).

11.  A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 30 January 2013 (Rule 59 § 3).

There appeared before the Court:

(a)  for the Government
MrF. SanzGandásegui, Agent;

(b)  for the applicant
MrJ.L. Mazón Costa,
MsE. MartínezSegado,Counsel.

The applicant was also present at the hearing.

The Court heard addresses by Mr Mazón Costa and MsMartínezSegado, and by Mr SanzGandásegui, and also their replies to questions from judges.

THE FACTS

I.  THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

A.  The applicants situation, his employment and the non-renewal of his contract

12.  The applicant was born in 1937 and lives inCieza. He is married and the father of five children.

13.  He was ordained as a priest in 1961. In 1984 he applied to the Vatican for dispensation from the obligation of celibacy. At that time he did not receive any answer. The following year he was married in a civil ceremony. Hehas had five children with his wife, to whom he is still married. The parties have not submitted any details concerning his status as a priest not having received a dispensation.

14.  From October 1991 onwards, the applicant was employed as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics in a State-run secondary school of the region of Murcia under a renewable one-year contract. In accordance with the provisions of a 1979 Agreement between Spain and the Holy See, religious education shall be taught by the persons who, every school year, are appointed by the administrative authority from among those proposed by the Ordinary of the diocese” (see paragraph 50, below). In accordance with a Ministerial Order of 1982, “the appointment is to be made annually and renewed automatically, unless an opinion to the contrary is given by the Ordinary before the start of the school year, or unless the public authority, for serious academic or disciplinary reasons, considers it necessary to annul the appointment, in which case the Church authority shall be heard ...”(see paragraph 51, below).Furthermore, Article VII of the Agreement provides that “at all levels of education, the remuneration of teachers of Catholic religion who do not belong to the State teaching staff shall be decided jointly by the central administration and the Spanish Episcopal Conference, such that it will be applicable from the entry into force of the present agreement” (see paragraph 50, below).

15.  In November 1996 the Murcian newspaper La Verdadprinted an article about the Movement for Optional Celibacy of priests (MOCEOP), which read as follows:

“La Luz monastery bars married priests from using its premises for mass

A representative of the diocese explained that the protest-oriented nature of the gathering might disturb the peace of the monastery.

m. de la viejamurcia

Father Francisco Tomás, head of the community of the Brothers of La Luz, in Murcia, has refused to allow access to the monastery to about a hundred married priests who wished to celebrate mass and spend the day there with their wives and children. Francisco Tomás stated that the monastery was a place of private worship and that the priests had not applied for the necessary authorisation. He added that, because of the advanced age of Brother Manuel (80 years old), the only monk residing at La Luz, he did not feel it was appropriate to hold a meeting that might disturb the peace of the monastery as a result of the publicity given to the event and the protest-oriented intentions of the Movement for Optional Celibacy.

Yesterday, the diocesan delegate for cultural heritage, Francisco Tomás, refused to allow the members of the Movement for Optional Celibacy (MOCEOP) to celebrate mass inside the monastery of La Luz, in El Valle. Father Tomás explained that the married priests had not sought permission to use the monasterys church. In addition, the movement had intended to make the most of the day to hold an information meeting about the IVth International Congress of married priests held in Brasilia last July on the theme Ministries of the third millennium.

Francisco Tomás also explained that only one 80-year-old monk lived in the monastery and that it was not desirable to disturb the peace of this brother with protests that would attract media attention to this place of private worship.

For his part, the regional coordinator of MOCEOP, Pedro Sánchez González, stated that the requisite authorisation had certainly been applied for but the Movement had not received a reply and he did not think that such a permit would be indispensable for the celebration of mass in a hermitage.

The publicity given to the event in the press had dissuaded a large number of the Movements members from attending the gathering in La Luz. Others, seeing the monasterys doors closed, merely waved to their colleagues without getting out of their cars and turned round. Only about ten secularised priests stayed there with their families to explain their situation to the media and those present. Some of their children even held up a banner. They eventually went away to have lunch together, intending to celebrate mass amongst themselves.

Lorenzo Vicente, Pedro Hernández Cano, Crisanto Hernández and José Antonio Fernández – a former seminary director – are among the married priests who gathered at La Luz yesterday to advocate optional celibacy and a democratic rather than a theocratic Church in which laymen would take part in electing their parish priest and their bishop. The rule of celibacy is Church-made and not divinely inspired. They also expressed their disagreement about certain economic issues: Those of us who paid contributions to the clergys mutual insurance fund, which was subsequently incorporated into the social security system, lost all our rights when we became secularised. Moreover, nuns are in an even worse situation than priests because they donate their property to the community and lose everything, they declared.

The article also containeda separate part, under a differentheading:

“Even the Pope does not believe that we will rot in hell because of sex

On issues such as abortion, birth control, divorce or sex, Pedro Hernández Cano and his friends from the MOCEOP said that they were in favour of responsible paternity.

They added that abortion was a personal problem which should not be prohibited by law, but [that] a social structure is needed to support women facing maternity. To castigate a woman as a sinner if she gets pregnant out of wedlock just encourages abortion. The married priests emphasised that birth control was clearly necessary and that, consequently, everyone should be free to choose the means that they find most appropriate.

Sex is a gift from God and not a scourge, and even the Pope does not believe that it leads to damnation. If that were the case, he would not have put on hold the current 6,000 requests for secularisation, they concluded.

16.  By a “rescript” of 20 August1997, the Pope granted the request for dispensation from celibacy that the applicant had submitted thirteen years earlier, stipulating that the applicant was dispensed from celibacy and lost his clerical state”. He forfeitedthe rights related to that state”, as well as the ecclesiastical honours and functions (dignitatesetofficiaecclesiastica in Latin). He no longer had theobligations associated with the clerical state”. The rescriptfurther noted that the applicant was barred from teaching the Catholic religion in publicinstitutions, unless the local bishop decided otherwise, for lower-level schools(in institutisautemstudiorumgradusinferioris), “according to his own prudent judgment [prudentiiudicio]and provided that there [was] no scandal [remotoscandalo]. The applicant was notified of the rescript on 15 September 1997.

17.  On 29 September 1997 the Dioceseof Cartagena informed the Ministry of Education in a written memorandumabout the applicants termination of serviceas a teacher in the school where he was working.

18.  The Ministry informed the applicant on 9 October 1997 that his employment had beenterminatedwith effectfrom29 September 1997.

19.  In an official memorandum of 11 November 1997 the Diocese observed as follows:

“[The applicant], a secularised priest, taught classes in Catholic religion andethics...by virtue of the powers conferred on bishops by the rescripts ...

Those powers...may be exercised for the teaching of subjects related to Catholic religion, provided there isno risk of scandal.

When the [applicants] situation became a matter of public and common knowledge, it was no longer possible for the bishop of the diocese to make use of the powers conferred upon him by the rescript; accordingly, the document authorising [the applicant] to teach Catholic religion and ethics was not signed, with effect from the current academic year. [The applicant]s personal and employment situation has also been taken into account, since [he] is entitled to receive unemployment benefit for at leasta year and a half.

The Diocese of Cartagenaregrets this situation, whilepointing out that the decision was taken also out of respect for the sensitivity of many parents who might be upset to learn of the situation of [the applicant], who was teaching Catholic religion and ethics in an education centre.

Lastly, the Diocese trusts that Christian people and society in general will understand that the circumstances surrounding these facts cannot be assessed solely from an employment or professional standpoint.For the Catholic Church, the sacrament of the priesthood is of a nature that surpasses the strictly employment or professional context.

20.  The director of the secondary-education centre where the applicant had been teaching sent a note to the Bishop of Murcia in which thecentres board of teachers expressed its support for the applicant andstated that he had given his classes during the school year 1996/97to the full satisfaction of the teachers, the pupils andtheir parents, and the centres management.

21.  Initially, the applicant lived on unemployment benefit. In 1999 he found a job in a museum, where he worked until his retirement in 2003.

B.  Judicial proceedings

22.  Having been unsuccessful in his administrative complaint against thedecision of the Ministry to terminate his employment, the applicant filed an appeal against that decision with an administrative court. Theappeal was dismissed on 30 June2000 on the ground that the decision to formalise the termination of the applicants employment was the only course of action open to the administrative authorities once the Diocese had decided not to propose the applicant for appointment.

23.  The applicant then brought proceedings for unfair dismissal before Murcia Employment Tribunal no. 3. The Employment Tribunal gave its judgment on 28 September 2000.

24.  The tribunal began by examining the facts as establishedand noted that the applicant had held various posts within the Catholic Church, such as director of the seminary of Murciaor that ofepiscopal vicarof the region ofCiezaandYecla. It further observed that the applicant was a member of MOCEOP.

25.  The tribunal then referred to the arguments used by the Diocese to justify the non-renewal of the applicants contract, namely the fact that he had made public his situation as a “married priest” (he had not received a dispensation from the Vatican until 1997) and father, together with the need to avoid scandal and to respect the sensitivity of the parents of the schools pupils, as they might be offended if the applicant continued to teach Catholic religion and ethics. In this connection the tribunal took the following view:

[I]n the light of the facts thus presented, Mr FernándezMartínez was discriminated against because of his marital status and his membership of the Movement for Optional Celibacy, his appearance in the press having been the cause of his dismissal.”

26.  The tribunal further pointed out:

“The principle of non-discrimination at work encompasses the prohibition of discrimination on account of belonging to a trade union and union activity, and this applies to membership of any other association.”

27.  Lastly, the tribunal noted that the applicants situation as a “married priest” and father had been known to the pupils and their parents and to the directors of the two schools where he had worked.

28.  Consequently, the tribunal upheld the applicants appeal, declared his dismissal (as it was described in the judgment) null and void, ordered the Region of Murcia to reinstate himto his former position, and ordered the State to pay him the outstanding salary. It dismissed the applicants claim insofar as it was directed against the Diocese of Cartagena.

29.  The Ministry of Education, the Education Authority for the Region of Murcia and the Diocese of Cartagena lodged an appeal (suplicación). In a judgment of 26 February 2001, the Murcia High Court of Justiceallowedthe appeal, finding as follows:

“... The teaching [of Catholic religion and ethics] is associated with the doctrine of the Catholic religion ... Accordingly, the bond created [between the teacher and the bishop] is based on trust. [As a result,] it is not a neutral legal relationship, such as that which exists between citizens in general and public authorities. It fallson the borderline between the purely ecclesiastical dimension and a nascent employment relationship.”

30.  Moreover, the court referred to the bishops prerogatives in such matters and took the view that in the present case there had not been a violation of Articles 14 (prohibition of discrimination), 16 (freedom of thought and religion), 18 (right to respect for private and family life) or 20 (freedom of expression) of the Spanish Constitution, since the applicant had taught religion since 1991, the Bishop of Murcia having extended his employment from year to year even though his personal situation had been identical. The court concluded that, when the applicant had decided to reveal that situation publicly, the Bishopof Murcia had merely used his prerogative in accordance with the Code of Canon Law, that is to say, ensuring that the applicant, like any other person in that situation, carried out his duties with discretion and without his personal circumstances causing any scandal. In the courts view, if such a situation became public knowledge, it was the bishops duty to cease proposing the person concerned for a post of that nature, in accordance with the requirements of the rescript granting dispensation from celibacy.

31.  In addition, as regards Article 20 of the Constitution in particular, the court noted that for the purposes of Article 10 § 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the restrictions imposed on the applicants rights had to be considered legitimate and proportionate to the aim pursued, namely the avoidance of scandal.

32.  Furthermore, the court analysed the question of the bond of trust and concluded as follows:

“... Where such a bond of trust is broken (and in the present case there are circumstances that reasonably allow such a conclusion to be reached), the bishop is no longer obliged to propose the person in question for the post of teacher of Catholic religion.”

33.  Lastly, as to the nature of the contract, the court took the view that, since its renewal was subject to annual approval by the bishop for the following school year, it was a temporary contract, which in the present case had simply expired. It was thus not possible to consider that the applicant had been dismissed.

34.  Relying on Articles 14 (prohibition of discrimination), 18 (right to respect for private and family life) and 20 (freedom of expression) of the Constitution, the applicant lodged an amparoappeal with the Constitutional Court. He alleged in particular that the decision not to renew his contract on the ground that he had made public his membership of MOCEOP and his dissenting opinions on the celibacy of Catholic priests constituted an unjustified interference with his private life and was incompatible with his right to freedom of religion.

35.  By a decision of 30 January 2003, the chamber to which the case had been allocated declared the amparoappeal admissible and, in accordance with sections 50 to 52 of the Organic Law on the Constitutional Court, notified the decision to the parties and requested a copy of the case file from the courts below.

36.  In its mandatory interventionbefore the Constitutional Court, the public prosecutors office (Ministerio Fiscal)argued in favour of granting the applicantsamparo appeal.In this connection, it criticised the reasons given by the High Court of Justice, which had considered the non-renewal of the contract justified in so far as the applicant had acted in a manner that was contrary to therescript of dispensation when he had agreed to make his family situation public. The public prosecutors office noted that the applicants public appearance had taken place well before the dispensation from celibacy was granted to him, and therefore before the existence of that rescript. It further pointed out that the applicants membership of the movement in question had been known to the Church authorities. It took the view that since the applicants conductwhich had served as the justification for the non-renewal of his employment  namely, his attendance at an event organised by the movement came within the scope of his freedom of thought, the dismissal amounted to a violation of his right to equality (Article 14 of the Constitution), read in conjunction with his right to freedom of thought (Article 16 of the Constitution).

37.  In a judgment of 4 June 2007, served on 18 June 2007, the Constitutional Court dismissed theamparo appeal.

38.  The Constitutional Court first examined the alleged violations of Articles 14 (right to equality) and 18 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Constitution and dismissed those complaints, the first because the decision not to propose the applicant for appointment as a teacher was not based on any intention to discriminate against him on account of his marital status, and the second on the ground that he himself, of his own free will, had made public both his personal and family situation and the fact that he was a member of MOCEOP.

39.  The Constitutional Court then addressed what it regarded as the main question in the amparo appeal, namely, the alleged violation of Articles 16 and 20 of the Constitution. It thus sought to ascertain whether the facts in issue could be justified by the religious freedom of the Catholic Church (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution) in conjunction with the States duty of religious neutrality (Article 16 § 3 of the Constitution), or whether, by contrast, they constituted a breach of the applicants right to freedom of thought and religion (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution) in conjunction with his right to freedom of expression (Article 20 § 1 (a) of the Constitution).For that purpose, the court relied on the criteria laid down in its judgment no. 38/2007 of 15 February 2007concerning the constitutionality of the system of selection and recruitment of Catholic religion teachers in State schools. In this connection it emphasised the special status of teachers of religious education in Spain and took the view that this status justifiedthe fact that the religious beliefs of such teacherswould be taken into account in the selection process.

40.  At this point, the Constitutional Court explainedas follows:

“... the task of the Constitutional Court in the present case, as in other cases where there is a conflict between fundamental rights of a substantive nature, is to ascertain whether the courts [below] weighed up the competing rights at stake in a manner that reflected their constitutional definition ... In doing so, it is not bound by the assessment already made by those courts. In other words, the assessment of this Court is not confined to an external review of the adequacy and consistency of the reasons given for the decision or decisions ...; rather, in its capacity as the ultimate guarantor of fundamental rights, it must resolve any conflict that exists between the affected rights and determine whether those rights have indeed been infringed in terms of their individual constitutional content. However, for this purpose it is necessary to apply different criteria from those applied by the courts [below], as the reasons given by the latter are not binding on this Court nor do they limit its jurisdiction to merely reviewing the grounds of their decisions. ...”

41.  As regards the facts of the case, the Constitutional Court began by noting that the reason for the non-renewal had been the article in a regional newspaper, which had caused a scandal according to the arguments put forward by the Diocese of Cartagena in its official memorandum of 11 November 1997.That article had made public two personal characteristics of the applicant already known to the Diocese, namely his family situation as a married priest and father, and the fact that he was a member of a movement that challengedcertain precepts of the Catholic Church. That publicity had formed the factual basis of what the Diocese had referred to in its memorandum as constituting a scandal.

42.  Noting that the High Court of Justice had effectively reviewed the Bishops decision, in particular concerning the latters inability to propose candidates who did not have the requisite professional qualifications for the post and the obligation to respect fundamental rights and civil liberties, the Constitutional Court found as follows:

“The extensive passages cited from the judgment appealed against demonstrate that it neither rejects the possibility of judicial review of the ecclesiastical authoritys decision nor does it shy away from weighing up the fundamental rights competing in this particular case with the right to religious freedom (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution), which it does in an unequivocal manner.

43.  The Constitutional Court then engaged in its own balancing of the competing fundamental rights:

Having dealt with the balancing of the rights at stake in the impugned judgment, this Court must now assess, above and beyond the reasoning of that judgment, the conclusions reached by it after weighing up the conflicting fundamental rights. In doing so the Court must consider not just the rights contemplated in that judgment, but also the right to freedom of thought and religion, an issue which it submitted, of its own motion, for the consideration of the parties...

The actions and opinions which resulted in the appellant in the present case not being proposed by the Diocese as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics were his public disclosure, firstly, of his situation as a priest who was married and the father of five children and, secondly, of his membership of the Movement for Optional Celibacy (as made clear by the judgments of the courts below and expressly conceded by the amparoappellant himself). It is clear that, from the States (secular) perspective, these actions and opinions must be considered in terms of a possible infringement of the right to freedom of thought and religion (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution) in conjunction with the right to freedom of expression (Article 20 § 1 (a) of the Constitution), relied on in the application for amparorelief.

In order to resolve this issue it must be borne in mind that no rights, not even fundamental rights, are absolute or unlimited. In some instances the provision of the Constitution recognising a right expressly limits that right; in other cases, the limitation stems from the need to preserve other constitutional rights or values which warrant protection. In that connection this Court has repeatedly held that the fundamental rights recognised by the Constitution can yield only to the limitations expressly laid down by the Constitution itself or those which can be indirectly inferred from the Constitution as being justified in order to preserve other rights or values protected by the law. In any case, the limitations imposed may not impede the exercise of the fundamental right in question to an unreasonable degree (see Constitutional Court judgments no. 11/1981 of 8 April 1981, legal ground 7; no. 2/1982 of 29 January 1982, legal ground 5; no. 53/1986 of 5 May 1986, legal ground 3; no. 49/1995 of 19 June 1995, legal ground 4; no. 154/2002 of 18 July 2002, legal ground 8; no. 14/2003 of 28 January 2003, legal ground 5; and no. 336/2005 of 20 December 2005, legal ground 7).

In the present case the interference with the appellants right to freedom of religion, in its individual dimension, and his right to freedom of thought (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution) taken in conjunction with the right to freedom of expression (Article 20 § 1 (a) of the Constitution), as a result of his not being proposed by the Diocese for appointment as a teacher of Catholic religion and education for the 1997/98 school year – in the context, therefore, of his claim to continue teaching the creed of a particular religious faith in a public educational establishment – was neither disproportionate nor unconstitutional, since it was justified by respect for the lawful exercise of the Catholic Churchs fundamental right to religious freedom in its collective or community dimension (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution), in conjunction with the right of parents to choose their childrens religious education (Article 27 § 3 of the Constitution). The reasons determining the decision not to propose the appellant as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics were of an exclusively religious nature, related to the rules of the faith to which he freely adheres and whose beliefs he sought to teach in a public educational establishment.

44.  The Constitutional Court referred to its judgment no. 38/2007 of 15 February 2007, observing as follows:

“As this Court held in judgment no. 38/2007 of 15 February 2007, and reiterated in point 5 of the legal grounds of the present judgment, it would be quite simply unreasonable, as regards the teaching of religion in schools, if the religious beliefs of those who decide of their own free will to apply for such teaching posts were not taken into account in the selection process, on the basis of guaranteeing the right to religious freedom in its external and collective dimension...

It should certainly be reiterated, as regards the justification and constitutionality of the impact on or modification of the appellants fundamental right to freedom of religion and thought (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution) taken in conjunction with the right to freedom of expression (Article 20 § 1 (a) of the Constitution) that, as this Court held in the aforementioned judgment no. 38/2007 of 15 February 2007, the relationship between religious-education teachers and the Church is not entirely the same as that found in organisations which pursue ideological aims, as examined on a number of occasions by this Court, but represents a specific and distinctive category which, while it presents certain similarities, is also different in some respects. In that connection the Court stated in the same judgment, referring to one of the factors which distinguished the relationship between religious-education teachers and the Church from the relationship within an organisation pursuing ideological aims, and allowed teachers rights to be modified in line with the educational ethos of private educational establishments, that the requirement imposed by the ecclesiastical declaration of suitability does not merely consist in a duty to refrain from actions contrary to the religious ethos but extends in a more profound manner to a determination of the individuals capacity to impart Catholic doctrine, understood as a set of faith-based religious convictions. Since the object of religious instruction is the transmission not only of specific knowledge but of the religious faith of the person who teaches it, this will in all probability imply a series of requirements that transcend the limits of an organisation pursuing ideological aims, beginning with the implicit requirement that persons who seek to transmit a religious faith must likewise profess that faith...

45.  Finally, the Constitutional Court turned to an argument made by the appellant, based on the fact that he advocated changing the rules of the Catholic faith itself, and concluded as follows:

The conclusion reached in the present case as a result of the balancing of the conflicting fundamental rights on the one hand the Catholic Churchs fundamental right to freedom of religion in its collective or community dimension (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution) read in conjunction with the States duty of religious neutrality (Article 16 § 3 of the Constitution), and on the other hand the appellants fundamental right to freedom of thought and religion (Article 16 § 1 of the Constitution) read in conjunction with the right to freedom of expression (Article 20 § 1 (a) of the Constitution)is in no way altered by the appellants claim that through his reforming views on celibacy for Catholic priests he sought to defend evolutionary change to rules of the Catholic faith which he considered to have become outdated with the passage of time. As pointed out in the Government law officers submissions, the State is debarred by its duty of religious neutrality (Article 16 § 3 of the Constitution) from entering into or determining possible disputes within the Church, in this specific case between proponents and opponents of celibacy for priests. Nor is it for the Court, in more general terms, to pass judgment on the suitability or compatibility of the actions, opinions and conduct of persons appointed to teach a particular religion vis-à-vis the orthodoxy of the religious faith in question. As a State body exercising public authority, the Court must confine itself in the present amparoappeal, in accordance with its duty of neutrality, to finding established the strictly religious nature of the reasons given by the religious authority for its decision not to propose the appellant as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics. It further finds that the appellants fundamental rights to freedom of thought and religion and freedom of expression, within the ambit of which his actions, opinions and choices in this regard might in principle fall, were affected and modified only to the extent strictly necessary in order to ensure their compatibility with the freedom of religion of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the present amparoappeal must be dismissed.

46.  Two judges appended a dissenting opinion to the majority judgment. They criticised the fact that the balancing of the rights by the Constitutional Court had been confined to a reference to the religious grounds given in the decision to discontinue the applicants employment. In their view, the publicity given to a form of conduct that was already known beforehand could not justify the non-renewal of the contract.

47.  The applicant subsequently submitted an application requesting that the Constitutional Courts judgment be declared null and void, on the ground that two of the judges of the Chamber which had given the judgment were known for their affinities with the Catholic Church, one of them being a member of the International Secretariat of Catholic Jurists.

48.  Ina decision of 23 July 2007, the Constitutional Court rejected the application on the ground that, under section 93(1) of the Organic Law on the Constitutional Court, the only possible remedy against a judgment of that court was a request for clarification.

II.  RELEVANT DOMESTIC, EUROPEAN, INTERNATIONALAND COMPARATIVE LAW AND PRACTICE

A.  The Constitution

49.  The relevant provisions of the Spanish Constitution read as follows:

Article 14

“Spaniards are equal before the law; they may not be discriminated against in any way on grounds of birth, race, sex, religion, opinions or any other condition or personal or social circumstance.”

Article 16

“1.  Freedom of thought, religion and worship shall be guaranteed to individuals and communities, without any restrictions on its expression other than those necessary to maintain public order as protected by law.

2.  No one may be compelled to make statements regarding his or her ideas, religion or beliefs.

3.  No religion shall have the nature of State religion. The public authorities shall take account of all religious beliefs within Spanish society and consequently maintain appropriate relations of cooperation with the Catholic Church and other faiths.”

Article 18

“1.  The right to respect for honour, for private and family life and for ones image shall be guaranteed.

...”

Article 20

“1.  The following rights shall be recognised and protected:

(a) the right to free expression and dissemination of thoughts, ideas and opinions through words, in writing or by any other means of reproduction;

...

2.  The exercise of such rights may not be restricted by any form of prior censorship.

...

4.  The said freedoms shall be limited by respect for the rights recognised in the present Title, by the laws implementing the same, and in particular by the right to respect for honour, private life and ones image and to the protection of youth and childhood.

...”

B.  Agreement of 3 January 1979 between Spain and the Holy See on education and cultural affairs

50.  The relevant provisions of this Agreement read as follows:

Article III

“... Religious education shall be taught by the persons who, every school year, are appointed by the administrative authority from among those proposed by the Ordinary of the diocese. The latter shall notify sufficiently in advance the names of persons who are considered competent ...”

Article VII

At all levels of education, the remuneration of teachers of Catholic religion who do not belong to the State teaching staff shall be decided jointly by the central administration and the Spanish Episcopal Conference, such that it will be applicable from the entry into force of the present agreement.”

C.  Ministerial Order of 11 October 1982 on teachers of Catholic religion and ethics in secondary educational centres

51.  This order, which was in force at the material time, supplemented the 1979 Agreement between Spain and the Holy See, providing as follows:

Third point

...Teachers ofCatholic Religion and Ethics shall be appointed by the competent authority upon the proposal of the Ordinary of thediocese. The appointment is to be made annually and renewed automatically, unless an opinion to the contrary is given by the Ordinary before the start of the school year, or unless the public authority, for serious academic or disciplinary reasons, considers it necessary to annul the appointment, in which case the Church authority shall be heard...

D.  Organic Law no. 7/1980 of 5 July 1980 on freedom of religion

52.  Article 6(1) of this Law reads as follows:

“Registered churches, faiths and religious communities shall be fully autonomous and may establish their own principles of organisation, internal rules and staff regulations. In such principles ..., they may include clauses for the purpose of safeguarding their religious identity ... and ensuring respect for their beliefs, without prejudice to respect for the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, and in particular [rights to] freedom, equality and non-discrimination ...

E.  Organic Law no. 1/1990 of 3 October 1990 on the general organisation of the education system, replaced by Organic Law no. 2/2006 of 3 May 2006 on education

53.  In its second additional provision, Organic Law no.1/1990, in force at the material time, provided as follows:

“The teaching of religion shall be adapted in line with the provisions of the Agreement on education and cultural affairs between the Holy See and the State of Spain ... Religious education shall be proposed systematically by [education] centres and shall be voluntary in nature for the pupils.”

54.  The second and third additional provision of Organic Law no.2/2006 nowread as follows:

Second additional provision

1.  The teaching of Catholic religion shall be adapted in line with the provisions of the Agreement on education and cultural affairs between the Holy See and the State of Spain ... Religious education shall be included as a subject in the relevant educational levels; it will be proposed systematically by [education] centres and will be voluntary for the pupils.

...

Third additional provision

“...

2.  Teachers who, without having the status of public servant, give religious education classes in public education institutions, shall perform their duties in a contractual framework, in accordance with the Labour Code. ... They shall receive the same level of remuneration as temporary teaching staff.

It shall be incumbent in all cases on the religious entities to propose a candidate for the said teaching of religious education; such proposal shall be renewed automatically from year to year ...”

F.  Status of religious education teachers in Spain

55.  At the time of the events in the present case, the teaching of Catholic religion in public education centres was organised in accordance with Organic Law no. 1/1990 of 3 October 1990 on the general organisation of the education system, which, in its second additional provision, referred to the Agreement of 3 January 1979 on education and cultural affairs between Spain and the Holy See.

56.  The Catholic religion in Spain has the same status as the other faith groups which have also entered into cooperation agreements with the State, namely the Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim communities.

57.  Parents have the right to ensure that their children receive religious education at school and if appropriate to choose the faith that they are taught. In all cases the State covers the cost of such education, as provided for in the relevant agreements, which also stipulate that teachers are appointed after a declaration of suitability has been issued by the competent religious authority. That principle was developed in the Constitutional Courts judgment no. 38/2007 of 15 February 2007 (see paragraphs 60 and 61, below).

G.  Code of Canon Law

58.  The relevant canons of the Code of Canon Law, promulgated on 25 January 1983, provide as follows:

Canon 59

§1.  A rescript is an administrative act issued in writing by the competent executive authority; of its very nature, a rescript confersa privilege, dispensation, or other favour at a persons request.

...

Canon 290

Once validly received, sacred ordination never becomes invalid. A cleric shall, nevertheless, lose clerical status:

(1)  by a judicial sentence or administrative decree, which declares the invalidity of sacred ordination;

(2)  bythe penalty of dismissal lawfully imposed;

(3)  bya rescript of the Apostolic See, which issuesit to deacons only for seriouscauses and to priestsonly for most seriouscauses.

Canon 291

Apart from the case mentioned in Canon 290, paragraph 1, loss of clerical statusshallnot entail a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy, which is granted only by the Roman Pontiff.

Canon 292

A cleric who loses clerical statusaccording to the provisionsof law shall lose with it the rights attachedto such status and shallno longer be bound by any obligations of clerical status, without prejudice to the prescript of Canon291. He shall beprohibited from exercising the power of orders, without prejudice to the prescript of Canon976. By the loss of clerical status, he shall bedeprived of all offices, functions, and any delegated power.

Canon 804

...

§ 2. The Ordinary [of the diocese] shall be careful that those who are appointed as teachers of religion in schools, even in non-Catholic ones, are outstanding in true doctrine, in the witness of their Christian life, and in their teaching ability.

Canon 805

The Ordinary [of the diocese] has the right to appoint or approve teachers of religion and, if religious or moral considerations so require, the right to remove them or to demand that they be removed.

Canon 1314

Generally, a penalty is ferendaesententiae, so that it does not bind the guilty party until after it has been imposed; if the law or precept expressly establishes it, however, a penalty is lataesententiae, so that it is incurred ipso facto when the delict is committed.

Canon 1394

§ 1.  ...a cleric who attempts marriage, even if only civilly, incurs a lataesententiae suspension. If he does not repent after being warned and continues to cause ascandal, he maybe punished gradually by privations or even by dismissal from clerical status.

§ 2.  A member of a religious order who is not a cleric and who attempts marriage, even if only civilly, incurs a lataesententiae interdict, without prejudice to the prescript of Canon694.

H.  Case-law of the Spanish courts

1.  Supreme Court judgment of 19 June 1996

59.  In this judgment, which concerned the nature of the contracts entered into by religious education teachers, the Supreme Courtfound as follows:

The present case displays the characteristics provided for in Article 1 § 1 of the Labour Code, capable of classifying the legal relationship between the parties as contractual in nature: [an activity] carried on voluntarily for another, being remunerated and under a form of management. No rule grants such teachers [of religious education] the status of public servant. [In addition], the relationship is not administrative in nature, this being an imperative condition [for classification as a public servant].”

2.  Constitutional Court judgment no. 38/2007 of 15 February 2007

60.  This judgment relates toconstitutional review proceedings initiated by the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.The latter court questioned, among other things, the constitutionality of the Spanish employment system concerning teachers of religion, in sofar as, though not being civil servants as such, they are employed by the public administration and not by the Church and are thus integrated into the public employment system.In its judgment, the Constitutional Court confirmed the compatibility of this system with the Constitution.

61.  In addition, the Constitutional Court recalled that such appointments could be reviewed by the State courts. The relevant passages of the judgment read as follows:

The fact that teachers of religious education must be appointed from among persons previously proposed by the bishop and that this proposal requires a prior declaration of suitability based on moral and religious considerations, does not in any way mean that such appointments cannot be reviewed by the State courts, with a view to determining whether they are in accordance with the law, as is the case with all discretionary acts of authorities when they have effects vis-à-vis third parties ...

...

...Firstly, the courts must verify whether the administrative decision [of appointment] has been adopted in accordance with the applicable legal provisions, that is, in substance, whether the appointment was made from among the persons proposed by the bishop to provide religious instruction and, among the persons proposed, in conditions of equality and with respect for the principles of merit and capacity. ... [T]he reasons for not appointing a given person must be considered [by the courts] and, specifically, whether it is a result of the person not being included among those nominated by the ecclesiastical authority, or of other grounds that may likewise be subject to review....The competent courts must also determine whether the persons not being included among those proposed by the bishop of the diocese is the result of applying criteria of a religious or moral nature to determine the persons suitability to provide religious instruction, criteria that the religious authorities are empowered to define by virtue of the right to freedom of religion and the principle of the religious neutrality of the State, or whether, to the contrary, it is based on grounds that do not stem from the fundamental right of religious freedom and are not protected thereby.Lastly, once the strictly religious grounds for the decision have been determined, the court will have to weigh up any competing fundamental rights in order to determine to what extent the right to freedom of religion, exercised through the teaching of religion in schools, may affect the employees fundamental rights in their employment relationships.

...

The authority granted to the ecclesiastical authorities in determining the persons qualified to teach their religious creed constitutes a guarantee of the freedom of churches to organise the teaching of their doctrines without interference from the public authorities. That being the case, and with the corresponding cooperation in that regard (Article 16.3 of the Constitution) being realised through the appointment of the corresponding teachers by the public authorities, we must conclude that the declaration of suitability is only one of the requisites of capacity necessary for appointment. This requirement is in conformity with the right to equal treatment and non-discrimination (Article 14 of the Constitution)...

3.  Constitutional Court judgment no. 51/2011 of 14 April 2011

62.  In this judgment, which concerned the non-renewal of the contract of a religious education teacher on account of her civil marriage to a divorced man, the Constitutional Court stated as follows:

The [applicants] complaints must necessarily be examined in the light of the principles established in judgment no. 38/2007 of 15 February 2007...

...

... One cannot share the affirmationin the judgment of the lower court according to which ... the local bishops proposalsto the education authority for the appointments of teachers of the Catholic religion in each school year are not subjected to any control by the Spanish State...

Rather, on the contrary, ... there is nothing [in the relevant legal norms] that entails any exclusion of the jurisdictional power of the Spanish judges and courts ... The premise upon which the judgment of the lower court is based, namely that the proposals made by the bishop to the education authority for the appointments of teachers of Catholic religion are not subject to any control by the Spanish State, therefore proves not to be compatible with this requirement of full jurisdiction with respect to the civil effects of an ecclesiastical decision ...

... The decision of the Bishop of Almería not to propose the applicant as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics for the year 2001/2002 corresponds to a reason of which the characterisation as being of a religious and moral nature cannot be denied...

...The strictly religious grounds for the decision not to propose the applicant as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics havingbeen determined ... it is necessary to continue ... to weigh up the competing fundamental rights...

... The reason given by the Bishop of Almería for the justification of his decision not to propose the applicant for a contract withthe education authority as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics in 2001/2002, that is, the fact of having entered intoa civil marriage with a divorced person, is not related to the teaching activity of the applicant...

... It does not appear at any moment ...that in exercising her activities as a teacher of religion the applicant called into question the doctrine of the Catholic Church concerning marriage or defended civil marriage; neither does it appear in any way that she publicly exhibited her situation as a woman married to a divorced person...

The decision of the applicant to enter into a civil marriage, as provided for by law, with the person of her choice ... belongs in principle to the sphere of her personal and family intimacy, suchthat the religious reasons put forward in the decision of the Bishopof Almería not to propose her as a teacher of religion for the following school year (namely the fact of having married without following the rules of canon law) cannot justify, by themselves, the ensuing unsuitability of the applicant to teach Catholic religion and ethics ...

...

The amparo is therefore granted, on accountof the violation of the right not to suffer discrimination on the basis of personal circumstances, of the right to freedom of thought in connection with the right to marry in the legally established form, and theright to personal and family intimacy.

63.  On3 May 2011 Almeria Employment Tribunal no.3 declared the dismissal null and void and requested the immediate reinstatementof the teachertoher post, as well as the paymentof her salary arrears.This decision was upheld by the judgment of 22 December 2011of the Andalucía High Court of Justice.

64.  Finally, on 16 November 2012 the Constitutional Court declared inadmissible the amparo appeal submitted by the Church against the latter decision,on the ground that there was manifestly noviolation of any of the Churchs fundamental rights.

65.  Litigation as tothe implementation of the judgment is still continuing, in particular as regards the teachersreinstatement and the question whether it should be for a limited or an unlimited duration.

I.  Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation

66.  The relevant provisions of this European Union Directive read as follows:

Preamble, Recital 24

“The European Union in its Declaration No 11 on the status of churches and non-confessional organisations, annexed to the Final Act of the Amsterdam Treaty, has explicitly recognised that it respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religious associations or communities in the Member States and that it equally respects the status of philosophical and non-confessional organisations. With this in view, Member States may maintain or lay down specific provisions on genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirements which might be required for carrying out an occupational activity.”

Article 4
Occupational requirements

“1. ... Member States may provide that a difference of treatment which is based on a characteristic related to [among other things, religion or belief] shall not constitute discrimination where, by reason of the nature of the particular occupational activities concerned or of the context in which they are carried out, such a characteristic constitutes a genuine and determining occupational requirement, provided that the objective is legitimate and the requirement is proportionate.

2. Member States may maintain national legislation in force ... or provide for future legislation incorporating national practices existing at the date of adoption of this Directive pursuant to which, in the case of occupational activities within churches and other public or private organisations the ethos of which is based on religion or belief, a difference of treatment based on a persons religion or belief shall not constitute discrimination where, by reason of the nature of these activities or of the context in which they are carried out, a persons religion or belief constitute a genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement, having regard to the organisations ethos. ...

Provided that its provisions are otherwise complied with, this Directive shall thus not prejudice the right of churches and other public or private organisations, the ethos of which is based on religion or belief, acting in conformity with national constitutions and laws, to require individuals working for them to act in good faith and with loyalty to the organisations ethos.”

J.  Comparative law material

67.  According to the material obtained by the Court, a significant majority of the Council of Europe Member States providereligious education, both denominational and non-denominational, in State schools. In a large number of States making up this majority, thereligious authorities concerned have either a co-decision role or an exclusive role in the appointment and dismissal of religious education teachers. As a general rule, in addition to pedagogical qualifications, the teachers must have the authorisation of the religious community in question (themissiocanonica, the Vokationof the Protestant Church, the Orthodox canonical mandate, the Jewish teaching certificate, the certificate delivered by the Islamic community, etc.). The withdrawal of such authorisation by the competent religious authority, for reasons pertaining to religious matters, leads to the loss of the religious education teaching post. In a small minority of States where religion is taught as part of the ordinary curriculum, the State has an exclusive role in the appointment and dismissal of religious education teachers, who are required to have a degree in either human sciences or theology.

THE LAW

I.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 8 OF THE CONVENTION

68.  The applicant complained about the non-renewal of his contract of employment. He alleged that it had breached his right to respect for his private and family life and relied on Article 8 of the Convention, which reads as follows:

“1.  Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2.  There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”

A.  The Chambers findings

69.  In its judgment of 15 May2012, the Chamber noted that in Spanish law the notion of autonomy of religious communities was complemented by the principle of the States religious neutrality, as recognised in the Constitution, which precluded the State from ruling onquestions such as the celibacy of priests. Admittedly, thedutyof neutralitywas not unlimited. The Constitutional Courts judgment had confirmed that it did not preclude the possibility for the courts to review the bishops decision to verify its respect for fundamental rights and civil liberties. The definition of the religious or moral criteria underlying the non-renewal decision was nevertheless the exclusive prerogative of the religious authorities. The domestic courts were entitled to weigh up the competing fundamental rights and to examine whether grounds other than those of a strictly religious nature played a part in the decision not to appoint a candidate, because religious grounds alone were protected by the principle of freedom of religion.

70.  The Chamber observed that the applicant had been able to take his case to the Employment Tribunal and the Murcia High Court of Justice, then at last instance to lodge an amparoappeal with the Constitutional Court. Moreover, the dispensation from celibacy granted to him had provided that recipients of such dispensation could not teach Catholic religion in public institutions unless authorised by the bishop.

71.  The Chambertook the view that the circumstances used to justify the non-renewal of the applicants contract were of a strictly religious nature and that the requirements of the principles of religious freedom and neutrality precluded it from carrying out any further examination of the necessity and proportionality of the decision not to renew his teaching contract.

72.  In conclusion, the Court found thatthe competent courts had struck a fair balance between various private interests and that there had been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

B.  The parties submissionsandthird-party comments

1.  The applicant

73.  In the applicants submission, the Chamber judgment had sacrificed the applicants right to respect for his private and family life in favour of a new absolute right of the Catholic Church, namely the right to dismiss freely or on derisory or trivial grounds. The applicant thus referred throughout his observations to his “dismissal” rather than to non-renewal.

74.  The applicant referred to the Courts case-law in Hasan and Chaush v. Bulgaria ([GC], no. 30985/96, § 60, ECHR 2000XI), in which it was stated that the right to freedom of religion did not protect every act motivated or inspired by a religion or belief. In the present case, the non-renewal decision following the publicity given to the applicants situation had clearly been disproportionate.

75.  The applicant further noted that the Chamber judgment had not taken into account the fact that it was the State which paid his salary, a fact which should have attributedmore weight to his fundamental rights such as respect for his private life.

76.  This factor distinguished the case from previous cases examined by the Court such as Obst v. Germany (no. 425/03, 23 September 2010), Schüth v. Germany (no. 1620/03, ECHR 2010)andSiebenhaar v. Germany (no. 18136/02, 3 February 2011). In those German cases, the recruitment of staff by religious communities had been carried out directly by the Churches or faith organisations themselves, without any intervention by a public authority in the appointment procedure. Moreover, unlike the situation in the present case, it was not even a public authority which had paid the salaries of the employees in those cases.

77.  The applicant pointed out that the “scandal” argument given by the Bishophad been based on the appearance in the press of a photograph showing the applicant and his family. In this connection he noted that he had never spoken in his religious -education classes against the teachings of the Church, including the celibacy of priests. He mentioned the note of support from the director of the secondary -education institution where he had been teaching.

78.  The applicant complained that, even though he had not given any statement to the press, the criticism of the Churchs policies had been attributed to him. The remarks in question had been made by other members of MOCEOP who were present at the gathering.

79.  On that point, the applicant complained that the Chamber judgment, in paragraphs 84 and 86, had introduced a new ground for the non-renewal decision, namely the criticisms allegedly made by the applicant, whereas the Bishops memorandum had mentioned only the publicity given to the applicants personal situation.

80.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant submitted that the Chamber judgment had modified the facts that had been declared established by Murcia Employment Tribunal no. 3, which had considered that the ground for non-renewal was the “scandal”,and had instead espoused the findings of the Constitutional Court judgment.

2.  The Government

81.  In the Governments submission, it was essential to determine the central question, namely what facts constituted the grounds for the decision of the Diocese of Cartagena not to renew the applicants certificate of suitability for the teaching of the Catholic religion. In their view, the non-renewal could be explained by events that had been triggered by the applicant himself: his voluntary disclosure in the media of the fact that he was a married priest and that he belonged to MOCEOP, and of his opinions that were at odds with the Catholic Churchs position on a number of subjects. Those publicstatements had clearly broken the bond of trust, essential as it was, between the applicant and the Church.

82.  The Government agreed as a whole with the approach adopted by the Chamber as to the relevant Convention provision in the present case and noted that the result would have been the same if the case had been examined under Article 9.

83.  The Government further took the view that, as the Chamber had found in paragraph 78 of its judgment, the present case had to be examined from the perspective of the States positive obligations (in the light of Rommelfanger v. Germany, no. 12242/86, Commission decision of 6 September 1989, Decisions and Reports 62). The Government argued that the State had fulfilled its obligations in the present case.

84.  The Government pointed out that, at the material time, the Ministerial Orderof 11 October 1982 had been applicable, supplementing the 1979 Agreement between Spain and the Holy See.

85.  The Government noted moreover that, at the material time, teachers of religious education received their pay directly from the Catholic Church, to which the State paid the necessary funds in the form of grants. Even though the legal regime of religious-education teaching had changed and salaries were now paid directly by the public authority, one essential factor had not changed, namely the need for a certificate of suitability issued by the Church, without which the teacher could not be appointed to a post. The Government were of the view that thiswas merely a feature of the way in which the State organised the financing of the teaching of various religions in Spain and also that a wide margin of appreciation should be afforded to States in the organisation of their education systems.

86.  The Government thus submitted that, even though the non-renewal decision in the present case had been taken by the public authority, it constituted a “mandatory decision”. The public authority could not ignore the failure to fulfil one of the prerequisites for renewal, namely the Catholic Churchs nomination and declaration of suitability. The public authoritys decision had therefore been a mere formality.

87.  The certificate of suitability did not simply attest to the candidates technical skills. In accordance with Canon 804 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law, the professional qualification of religious-education teachers lay in their morality, exemplary Christian life and teaching ability. This showed the essential nature of the bond of trust between the Church and the teacher, referred to by the Government as a “juridical-canonical relationship”. In the present case that bond of trust had been broken by the applicants statements.

88.   However, the bond of trust did not exclude all review by the courts of the Churchs decision or the balancing of competing fundamental rights.

89.  Therefore, once it had been verified in a given case that the grounds for non-renewal were strictly religious, the courtshad to weigh up any competing fundamental rights.

90.  The Government submitted that in the present case the reasons had been strictly religious and concerned the duty of loyalty and coherence which had to be observed by the applicant in work that he had freely chosen and which, moreover, differed from the teaching of another subject such as mathematics or history. The Government thus requested the Court to bear in mind that the relationship of loyalty in the present case wason a higher plane than that existing in a case concerning a church organist (as in Schüth, cited above), a child-minder in a Church school (as in Siebenhaar, cited above), or a Church public-relations manager (as in Obst, cited above).

91.  For the Government, the question to be addressed was not whether the relevant remarks were legitimate and could be expressed in public. The issue for them was whether a religious organisation was obliged to appoint and continue to employ as a religious-education teacher a person who had publicly expressed views that were inconsistent with its doctrine. Whilst such remarks fell within the applicants right to freedom of expression, it was also true that they were at odds with the Churchs doctrine and with the prerequisites for the canonical suitability of its teachers.

92.  The Government then returned to the subject of the applicants legal situation vis-à-vis the Catholic Church. The dispensation from celibacy had had the effect of limiting the possibility of teaching Catholic religion, entitling the Bishop, however, to give his authorisation provided there was no risk of scandal. Consequently, the Bishophad merely been exercising his prerogatives.

93.  The Government further noted that the applicant had had the opportunity to submit his arguments to courts at various levels of jurisdiction, which had examined the lawfulness of the impugned measure in the light of ordinary labour law, taking ecclesiastical law into account, and had weighed up the competing interests of the applicant and the Church, thus applying the Courts doctrine in that respect.

94.  Finally, the Government noted that teachers of religious education were recruited on the basis of criteria which differed essentially from those relevant for teachers of other subjects. Whereas the latter hadto take part in open and public competitions, teachers of religious education were nominated by the Catholic Church, who chose them freely and proposedthem to the civil authority if they were considered to be suitable for teaching religion.

3.  Observationsof the third-party interveners

(a)  Spanish Episcopal Conference (Conferencia Episcopal Española– “theCEE)

95.  In its observations the CEE stated that the requirement for teachers to have an ecclesiastical certificate of suitability and the possibility for the Church to withdraw or revoke that accreditation on religious or moral grounds was adapted to the very nature of the post, and to the right of parents and pupils to require that Catholic doctrine or values be imparted properly.

96.  The CEE drew attention to the specific system for the recruitment of religious-education teachers in Spain, which differed from the recruitment of other teachers, and noted that they were proposed to the public authority by the various faith groups, after being chosen from among persons who had an academic qualification that was deemed equivalent to those of the other teachers recruited by the public authority. After the proposal in principle of teachers of religion by the corresponding faith groups, the teachers were appointed by the public authority.

97.  This specific system had an objective and reasonable justification and was proportionate to the aims pursued by the legislature, namely to guarantee the religious neutrality of the State, the right of parents to their childrens education and the autonomy of faith groups in the recruitment of their teaching staff. In the present case, the non-renewal of the contract had not been related to the applicants status as a married priest, but to the fact that he had acted publicly against the Church.

(b)  European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ)

98.  The ECLJ emphasised at the outset the importance of the principle of the institutional autonomy of faith groups, in conformity with the States duty of neutrality and impartiality. It mattered little whether the status of religious-education teachers was assimilated to that of public servants or of contractual employees, as this had no bearing on the religious nature of their employment. The crucial point for the third party was the possibility of review by the ordinary courts. Such review would vary in scope depending on the degree to which the reasoning behind the non-renewal decision was purely religious.

99.  The ECLJ referred to the notion of the heightened duty of loyalty, as recognised by international and European law: Directive 2000/78/EC, International Labour Organization Convention no. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, the Guidelines for Review of Legislation Pertaining to Religion or Belief adopted by the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission, and the work of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (see Ross v. Canada, Communication No. 736/1997). That obligation of loyalty was based on the manifestation of the personal wishes of the employee, who would thus agree to waive the exercise of certain guaranteed rights.

(c)  Chair in Law and Religions of the Universitécatholique de Louvain and the American Religious Freedom Program of the Ethics & Public Policy Center

100.  This third party argued that the principle of religious communities autonomy was widely recognised in international law. It referred in particular to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It further noted that the right to choose “religious leaders, priests and teachers” was expressly recognised by the United Nations Human Rights Committee as a guarantee of the autonomy of religious communities in dealing with teachers who did not conform to religious requirements (see Delgado Páez v. Colombia, Communication No. 195/1985, concerning a teacher of religion at a secondary school in Colombia).

101.  The third partyalso cited the United States Supreme Courts judgment of 11 January 2012 in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission et al., which expressly recognised for the first time the so-called “ministerial exception”, a doctrine according to which otherwise applicable laws prohibiting employment discrimination could not be applied to “ministerial employees” (a category that includedreligious-education teachers).

C.  The Courts assessment

1.  Alleged modification of facts by the Constitutional Court and the Chamber

102.  The Court notesthat the parties disagreed as to the facts which had led to the non-renewal of the applicants contract of employment. The applicant complained that the Chambers judgment had followed that of the Constitutional Court in introducing new facts that had not been declared established by Murcia Employment Tribunal no. 3. In particular, both the Constitutional Court and the Chamber had presented the applicants criticisms of the Church as the ground for non-renewal, whilst the Bishops memorandumhad mentioned only the publicity that the applicant had given to his personal situation. In the Governments submission, the event giving rise to the Bishops decision had been the applicants public statements,publicising both his family situation and his criticism of the Church.

103.  The Court notes that in its judgment of 28 September 2000 Murcia Employment Tribunal no. 3took the view that the applicant hadsuffered discrimination on account of his marital status and hismembership of the association MOCEOP, with his appearance in the press having been the underlying ground for what he described as his dismissal (see paragraph 25above). Accordingly, his membership of the movement was already part of the facts that had been declared established. On the basis of those same facts, the High Court of Justice arrived at the opposite conclusion.

104.  Moreover, the Court observes that, in his amparoappeal before the Constitutional Court, the applicant himself argued thathis position as a member of MOCEOP and his dissenting opinions about the celibacy of Catholic priestshad been the cause of the non-renewal of his contract and took the view that this constituted a breach of his right to private life and religious freedom. The Constitutional Courtbased itsfindings on those two points (see paragraph 41 above).

105.  This is not contradicted by the content of the Bishops memorandum relating to the non-renewal decision. The expression “applicants situation”may reasonably be understood to refer both to his marital status and to his membership of MOCEOP. Those two elements taken together could thus be regarded as constituting a situation likely to give rise to the “scandal” referred to by the Bishop.

106.  Lastly, as to the public statements that the applicant is said to have made (see paragraph 139 below),the Court finds that there is no indication in any domestic decision that they were taken into account by the national courts.

107.  In conclusion, it does not appear that the Constitutional Court or the Chamber relied on any facts other than those thathad been declared established by the domestic courts ruling on the merits. The Grand Chamber will take this into account.

2.  Relevant Convention provisions in the present case

108.  It should be noted atthe outset that various Convention Articles, in particular Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11, are relevant for the assessment of the present case. Article 8is relevant in sofar as it encompasses the applicants right to continue his professional life, his right to respect for his family life and his right to live his family life in an open manner. Article 9 is relevant in sofar as it protects the applicants right to freedom of thought and religion. Article 10 is relevant in sofar as it protects the applicants right to express his opinions about official Church doctrines, and Article 11 in sofar as it guarantees his right to be a member of an organisation holding specific views on issues concerning religion. In the Courts view, however, the mainissue in the present application lies in the non-renewal of the applicants contract. The applicant didnot complain about being prevented from holding and disseminating certain views orfrom being a member ofMOCEOP, or abouthaving to endure interference with his family life. The gist of his complaint is that he wasnot able toremain a teacher of the Catholic religion as a direct consequence of the publicity given to his family situation and of the fact that he was a member of MOCEOP.For that reason the Grand Chamber takes the view, like the Chamber, that the application should be examined under Article 8 of the Convention.

3.  Whether Article 8 is applicable

109.  Whereas no general right to employment or to the renewal of a fixed-term contract can be derived from Article 8, the Court has previously had occasion to address the question of the applicability of Article 8 to the sphere of employment. It thus reiterates that “private life” is a broad term not susceptible to exhaustive definition (see,among other authorities,Schüth, cited above, § 53). It would be too restrictive to limit the notion of “private life” to an “inner circle” in which the individual may live his own personal life as he chooses and to exclude therefrom entirely the outside world not encompassed within that circle (see Niemietz v. Germany, 16 December 1992, § 29, Series A no. 251B).

110.  According to the Courts case-law,there is no reason of principle why the notion of “private life” should be taken to exclude professional activities (see Bigaeva v. Greece, no. 26713/05, § 23, 28 May 2009, and OleksandrVolkov v. Ukraine, no. 21722/11, §§ 165-67, ECHR 2013). Restrictions on an individuals professional life may fall within Article 8 where they have repercussions on the manner in which he or she constructs his or her social identity by developing relationships with others. In addition, professional life is often intricately linked to private life, especially if factors relating to private life, in the strict sense of the term, are regardedas qualifying criteria for a givenprofession(see Özpınar v. Turkey, no. 20999/04, §§ 43-48, 19 October 2010). Professional life is therefore part of the zone of interaction between a person and others which, even in a public context, may fall within the scope of “private life” (see Mółka v. Poland (dec.), no. 56550/00, ECHR 2006IV).

111.  In the present case the interaction between private life strictosensu and professional life is especially striking as the requirements for this kind of specific employment were not only technical skills, but also the ability to be outstanding in truedoctrine, the witness of Christian life, and teaching ability(see paragraph 58 above), thus establishing a direct link between the persons conduct in private life and his or her professional activities.

112.  The Court further notes that the applicant, who was not a civil servant but was nonetheless employed and remuneratedby the State, had been a religious-education teacher since 1991 on the basis of fixed-term contracts which provided for annual renewal at the beginning of each academic year subject to the Bishops approvalof his suitability. Thus, whilst it is true that the applicant had never had a permanent contract, a presumption of renewal had given him good reason to believe that his contract would be renewed for as long as he fulfilled those conditions and there were no circumstances that mightjustifyits non-renewal under canon law. In the Courts opinion, the facts of the case bear some resemblance, mutatis mutandis, tothose of Lombardi Vallauriv. Italy (no. 39128/05, § 38,20 October 2009). In the present case, the applicant had been a religious-education teacher continuously for seven years and had been appreciated both by his colleagues and by the management of the centres where he taught, thus attesting to the stability of his professional situation.

113.  In those circumstances, the Court takes the view that as a consequence of the non-renewal of the applicants contracthis chances of carrying on his specific professional activity were seriously affected on account of events mainly relating to personal choices he had made in the context of his private and family life. It follows that, in the circumstances of the present case, Article 8 of the Convention is applicable.

4.  Compliance with Article 8

(a) Whether there has been an interference

114.  The Court would first reiterate that, although the object of Article 8 is essentially that of protecting the individual against arbitrary interference by the public authorities, it does not merely compel the State to abstain from such interference: in addition to this primarily negative undertaking, there may be positive obligations inherent in an effective respect for private life. These obligations may involve the adoption of measures designed to secure respect for private life even in the sphere of the relations of individuals between themselves. The boundaries between the States positive and negative obligations under Article 8 do not lend themselves to precise definition. The applicable principles are nonetheless similar. In particular, in both instances regard must be had to the fair balance which has to be struck between the general interest and the interests of the individual; and in both contexts the State enjoys a certain margin of appreciation (see Evans v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 6339/05, §§ 75-76, ECHR 2007I;Rommelfanger, cited above; and Fuentes Bobo v. Spain, no. 39293/98, § 38, 29 February 2000).

115.  Unlike the Chamber, the Grand Chamber takes the view that the question in the present case is not whether the State was bound, in the context of its positive obligations under Article 8, to ensure that the applicants right to respect for his private life prevailed over the Catholic Churchs right to refuse to renew his contract (contrast, mutatis mutandis, the above-cited judgments inObst, § 43, Schüth, § 57,andSiebenhaar, § 38). The Court thus accepts the position of the Constitutional Court, which, in its judgment of 4 June 2007, took the view that, even though it was not a public authority which had actually taken the non-renewal decision, it sufficed, as in the present case, for such an authority to intervene at a later stage for the decision to be regarded as an act of a public authority. The Court is thus of the opinion that the crux of the issue lies in the action of the State authoritywhich, as the applicants employer, and being directly involved in the decision-making process,enforced the Bishops non-renewal decision. Whilst the Court recognises that the State had limitedpossibilities of action in the present case, it is noteworthy that if the Bishops decision had not been enforced by the Ministry of Education, the applicants contract would certainly have been renewed.

116.  In view of the foregoing, the Court finds that, in the circumstances of the case, the conduct of the public authorities constituted an interference with the applicants right to respect for his private life.

(b) “In accordance with the law”

117.  The expression “in accordance with the law” requires, firstly, that the impugned measure should have some basis in domestic law. Secondly, it refers to the quality of the law in question, requiring that it should be accessible to the person concerned, who must moreover be able to foresee its consequences for him, and compatible with the rule of law (see, among other authorities, Kopp v. Switzerland, 25 March 1998, § 55, Reports of Judgments and Decisions1998II). The phrase thus implies, inter alia, that domestic law must be sufficiently foreseeable in its terms to give individuals an adequate indication as to the circumstances in which and the conditions on which the authorities are entitled to resort to measures affecting their rights under the Convention (see C.G. and Others v. Bulgaria, no. 1365/07, § 39, 24 April 2008).

118.  TheCourt notes that the Ministry of Education acted in accordance with the provisions of Article III of the 1979 Agreement between Spain and the Holy See, supplemented by the Ministerial Order of 11 October 1982, pursuantto which anappointment is not renewed if an opinion to the contrary is given by the bishop (see paragraph 51 above). This Agreement isan international treaty, integrated as such in Spanish law in conformity with the Spanish Constitution (see, mutatis mutandis, Neulinger and Shuruk v. Switzerland [GC], no. 41615/07, § 99, ECHR 2010). The non-renewal of the applicants contract was thus based on valid Spanish law.

119.  It remains to be examined to what extent the non-renewal of the contract wasforeseeableby the applicant. The decisive question is the extent to which he could have anticipated that his personal conduct was likely to entail the consequence that the Bishop would no longer consider him a suitable candidate and that his contract would therefore not be renewed. In this context the Court notes that the Diocese ofCartagena relied in particular on the notion of “scandal” to refuse the extension of the applicantscontract (see paragraph 19above). Even though the notion of scandal is not expressly provided for in Canons 804 and 805 of the Code of Canon Law (see paragraph 58 above), concerning religious-education teachers, it may be considered torefer to – and is thus clarified by – notions that arethemselvesin those canons such as “truedoctrine”, “witness of Christian life” or “religious or moral considerations”. In this connection, the Court is of the view that the applicable provisions in the present case fulfilled the requirements concerning the foreseeability of their effects. In particular, since the applicant had been the director of a seminary, it is reasonable to presume that he was aware of the heightened duty of loyalty imposed on him by ecclesiastical law and could thus have foreseen that, despite the fact that his situation had been tolerated for many years, the public display of his militantstance on certain precepts of the Church would be at odds with the applicable provisions of canon law and would not be without consequence.On the basis of the clear wording of the Agreement between Spain and the Holy See, he could alsohave reasonably foreseen that in the absence of a certificate of suitability from the Church his contract would not be renewed (see, mutatis mutandis,SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun”v. Romania [GC], no. 2330/09, § 155, ECHR 2013).

120.  Accordingly, the Court is prepared to accept, as the national courts did, that the interference complained of had a legal basis in the relevant provisions of the 1979 Agreement between Spain and the Holy See, supplemented by the Ministerial Order of 11 October 1982,and that these provisions satisfied the “lawfulness” requirements established in its case-law (see, mutatis mutandis, Miroļubovs and Others v. Latvia, no. 798/05, § 78, 15 September 2009).

121.  In conclusion, the impugned interference was in accordance with the law.

(c) Legitimate aim

122.  The Court agrees with the parties and finds that the non-renewal decision in issue in the present case pursued the legitimate aim of protecting the rights and freedoms of others, namely those of the Catholic Church, and in particular its autonomy in respect of the choice of persons accredited to teach religious doctrine.

(d) Necessary in a democratic society

(i)  General principles

(α)  Balancing of rights

123.  The Court reiterates that when it is called upon to rule on a conflict between two rights that are equally protected by the Convention, it must weigh up the interests at stake (see Siebenhaar, SchüthandObst, allcited above).In the present case, this balancing exercise concerns the applicants right to his private and family life, on the one hand, and the right of religious organisations to autonomy, on the other. The State is called upon to guarantee both rights and if the protection of one leads to an interference with the other, to choose adequate means to make this interference proportionateto the aim pursued. In this context, the Court accepts that the State has a wide margin of appreciation (see, mutatis mutandis, SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun”,cited above, § 160, and,mutatis mutandis,Von Hannover v. Germany (no. 2) [GC], nos. 40660/08 and 60641/08, §§ 10407,ECHR 2012).

124.  An interference will be considered “necessary in a democratic society” for a legitimate aim if it answers a “pressing social need” and, in particular, if it is proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued and if the reasons adduced by the national authorities to justify it are “relevant and sufficient” (see, for example,Coster v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 24876/94, § 104, 18 January 2001, and S. and Marper v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 30562/04 and 30566/04, § 101, ECHR 2008).

125.  While it is for the national authorities to make the initial assessment in all these respects, the final evaluation of whether the interference is necessary remains subject to review by the Court for conformity with the requirements of the Convention. A margin of appreciation must be left to the competent national authorities in this assessment. The breadth of this margin varies and depends on a number of factors including the nature of the Convention right in issue, its importance for the individual, the nature of the interference and the object pursued by the interference. The margin will tend to be narrower where the right at stake is crucial to the individuals effective enjoyment of intimate or key rights. Where a particularly important facet of an individuals existence or identity is at stake, the margin allowed to the State will be restricted. Where, however, there is no consensus within the member States of the Council of Europe, either as to the relative importance of the interest at stake or as to how best to protect it, the margin will be wider (see S. and Marper, cited above, §§ 101-02). There will also usually be a wide margin if the State is required to strike a balance between competing private and public interests or different Convention rights (see Obst, cited above, § 42).

(β)  Right to enjoy private and family life

126.  As regards the right to private and family life, the Court stresses the importance for individuals to be able todecidefreely how to conduct their private and family life.In this connection, it reiterates that Article 8 also protects the right to self-fulfilment, whether in the form of personal development(see Christine Goodwin v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 28957/95, § 90, ECHR 2002VI), or from the point of view of the right to establish and develop relationships with other human beings and the outside world, the notion of personal autonomy being an important principle underlying the interpretation of the guarantees laid down in that provision (see Pretty v. the United Kingdom, no. 2346/02, § 61, ECHR 2002III). Thus, itis self-evident that an individuals right to marry and to make that choice known to the public is protected bythe Convention and in particular by Article 8, read in the light of other relevant Articles (see paragraph 108 above).

(γ)  States duty to protect the autonomy of the Church

Scope of autonomy of religious communities

127.  As regards the autonomy of faith groups, the Court notesthat religious communities traditionally and universally exist in the form of organised structures. Where the organisation of the religious community is in issue, Article 9 of the Convention must be interpreted in the light of Article 11, which safeguards associative life against unjustified State interference.Seen in that perspective, the right of believers to freedom of religion encompasses the expectation that they will be allowed to associate freely, without arbitrary State intervention.The autonomous existence of religious communities is indispensable for pluralism in a democratic society and is thus an issue at the very heart of the protection which Article 9 of the Convention affords. It has a direct interest, not only for the actual organisation of those communities but also for the effective enjoyment by all their active members of the right to freedom of religion. Were the organisational life of the community not protected by Article 9 of the Convention, all other aspects of the individuals freedom of religion would become vulnerable (see Hasan and Chaush, cited above, § 62; Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Others v. Moldova, no. 45701/99, § 118, ECHR 2001XII; andHoly Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Metropolitan Inokentiy) and Others v. Bulgaria, nos. 412/03 and 35677/04, § 103, 22 January 2009).

128.  Concerning more specifically the internal autonomy of religious groups,Article 9 of the Convention does not enshrine a right of dissent within a religious community; in the event of any doctrinal or organisational disagreement between a religious community and one of its members, the individuals freedom of religion is exercised by the option of freely leaving the community (see Miroļubovsand Others, cited above, § 80). Moreover, in this context,the Court has frequently emphasised the States role as the neutral and impartial organiser of the exercise of various religions, faiths and beliefs, and has stated that this role is conducive to public order, religious harmony and tolerance in a democratic society, particularly between opposing groups (see, among other authorities, Hasan and Chaush, cited above, § 78, andLeyla Şahinv. Turkey[GC], no. 44774/98, § 107, ECHR 2005XI). Respect for the autonomy of religious communities recognised by the State implies, in particular, that the State should accept the right of such communities to react, in accordance with their own rules and interests, to any dissident movements emerging within them that might pose a threat to their cohesion, image or unity. It is therefore not the task of the national authorities to act as the arbiter between religious communities and the various dissident factions that exist or may emerge within them (see SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun”, cited above, § 165).

129.  The Court further reiterates that, but for very exceptional cases, the right to freedom of religion as guaranteed under the Convention excludes any discretion on the part of the State to determine whether religious beliefs or the means used to express such beliefs are legitimate (see Hasan and Chaush, cited above, §§ 62 and 78). Moreover, the principle of religious autonomy prevents the State from obliging a religious community to admit or exclude an individual or to entrust someone with a particular religious duty (see, mutatis mutandis, Svyato-MykhaylivskaParafiya v. Ukraine, no. 77703/01, § 146, 14 June 2007).

130.  Lastly, where questions concerning the relationship between State and religions, on which opinion in a democratic society may reasonably differ widely, are at stake,the role of the national decision-making body must be given special importance (see Leyla Şahin, cited above, § 109). This will be the case in particular where practice in European States is characterised by a wide variety of constitutional models governing relations between the State and religious denominations (see SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun”, cited above, § 138).

Duty of loyalty

131.  The Court acknowledges that as a consequence of their autonomy religious communities can demand a certain degree of loyalty from those working for them or representing them. In this context the Court has already considered that the nature of the post occupied by those personsis an important element to be taken into account when assessing the proportionality of a restrictive measure taken by the State or the religious organisation concerned (see Obst, cited above, §§ 48-51, and Schüth, cited above, § 69). In particular, the specific mission assigned to the person concerned in a religious organisation is a relevant consideration in determining whether that person should be subject to a heightened duty of loyalty.

Limits tothe autonomy

132.  That being said, a mere allegation by a religious community that there is an actual or potential threat to its autonomy is not sufficient to render any interference with its members rights to respect for their private or family lifecompatible with Article 8 of the Convention. In addition, the religious community in question mustalso show, in the light of the circumstances of the individual case, that the risk allegedis probable and substantial andthat the impugned interference with the right to respect for private life does not go beyond what is necessary to eliminate that risk and does not serve any other purpose unrelated to the exercise of the religious communitys autonomy. Neither should it affect the substance of the right to private and family life. The national courts must ensure that these conditions are satisfied, by conducting an in-depth examination of the circumstances of the case and a thorough balancing exercise between the competing interests at stake (see, mutatis mutandis, SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun, cited above, § 159).

 (ii)  Application of the above-mentioned principles to the present case

133.  In applying those principles to the present case, the Court considers that it has to take account of the following factors.

(α)  Status of the applicant

134.  The Court notes, firstly, that the applicant received the dispensation from the obligation of celibacy from the Vatican after the publication of the article in the newspaper. Thus, being both a married man and a priest, his status at the relevant time was unclear. On the one hand, his status as an ordained priest had not changed from the point of view of the Churchat least not officiallyand from the outside perspective he could still be considered a representative of the Catholic Church as he was still teaching Catholic religion.On the other hand, he was married and knownto bea former priest. Furthermore, it has to be taken into account that his salaryas a teacher was paid by the State, albeit indirectly, in so far as the Government noted that, at the material time, teachers of religious education received their pay directly from the Catholic Church to which the State paid the necessary funds in the form of grants.

135.  Be that as it may, the Court takes the view that, by signing his successive employment contracts, the applicant knowingly and voluntarily accepted a heightened duty of loyalty towards the Catholic Church, which limited the scope of his right to respect for his private and family life to a certain degree. Such contractual limitations are permissible under the Convention where they are freely accepted (see Rommelfanger, cited above). Indeed, from the point of view of the Churchs interest in upholding the coherence of its precepts, teaching Catholic religion to adolescents can be considered a crucial function requiring special allegiance. The Court is not convinced that at the time of the publication of the article in La Verdad, this contractual duty of loyalty had ceased to exist. Even if the applicants status as a married priest was unclear, a duty of loyalty could still be expected on the basis that the Bishop had accepted him as a suitable representative to teach Catholic religion.

(β)  Publicity given by the applicant to his situation as a married priest

136.  The Court notes , firstly, that it was not the applicant himself who published an article about his views or his family life, but a journalist who wrote about the meeting of MOCEOP and included both a photograph of the applicant and his family and a description of the views held by a group of former priests including the applicant. It is relevant, however, that, unlike the applicant,most of the other participants atthe meeting avoided contact with the press.As to the question whether the applicant deliberately posed for the impugned photograph, a point also disputed by the parties, the Court considers the answer not to be essential. Even assuming that the photograph was taken without his consent, it can be noted that there is no evidence in the file to show that the applicant complained of his appearance in the press by means of the mechanisms available to him under domestic law. The Court finds that in choosing to accept a publication about his family circumstances and his association with what the Bishop considered to be a protest-oriented meeting, he severed the special bond of trust that was necessary for the fulfilment of the tasks entrusted to him. Having regard to the importance of religious -education teachers for all faith groups, it was hardly surprising that this severance would entail certain consequences. The Court thus sees the granting of dispensation, thirteen years after the applicant had requested it and shortly after the publication of the press article, as part of the sanction imposedon the applicant as a result of his conduct.

137.  In the Courts view, it is not unreasonable for a Church or religious community to expect particular loyalty of religious-education teachers in so far as they may be regarded as its representatives. The existence of a discrepancy between the ideas that have to be taught and the teachers personal beliefs may raise an issue of credibility if the teacher actively and publicly campaigns against the ideas in question (see, mutatis mutandis, Siebenhaar,cited above,§ 46). Thus, in the present case the problem lies in the fact that the applicant could be understood to have beencampaigning in favour of his way of lifeto bring about a change in the Churchs rules, and in his open criticism of those rules.

(γ)  Publicity given by the applicant to his membership of MOCEOP; remarks attributed to him

138.  While the parties agreed that it was generally known that the applicant was married and had five children, it is not clear to what extent his membership ofan organisation with aims incompatible with the official Church doctrine was also known tothe generalpublic before the publication of the article. In this context, in the Courts view, it is necessary to take into account the specific content of the applicants teaching. A teacher of religious education who belongs to and publicly promotes an organisation advocating ideas that run counter to the teaching of that religion has to be distinguished from, for example, a language teacher who is at the same time a member of the Communist Party (see Vogt v. Germany, 26 September 1995, Series A no. 323). In the former case, the heightened duty of loyalty is justified by the fact that, in order to remain credible, religion must be taught by a person whose way of life and public statements are not flagrantly at odds with the religion in question, especially where the religion is supposed to govern the private life and personal beliefs of its followers(see Directive 2000/78/EC;Schüth, cited above, § 40;Obst, cited above, § 27;andLombardi Vallauri, cited above, § 41).For this reason, the sole fact that there is no evidence to suggest that the applicant, in his class, taught anything incompatible with the Catholic Churchs doctrine does not suffice for it to be concluded that he fulfilled his heightened duty of loyalty (seeVogt, cited above).

139.  As regards the statements attributed to the applicant following the publication of the press article, it is noteworthy that the article indicated that the remarks in question had been made by fournamed participants in the event, one of whom was the applicant, incidentally referred to in the article as the former director of a seminary. According to the article, those four participants, including the applicant, had expressed their support for contraception and their disagreement with the Catholic Churchs positions on other subjects such as abortion, birth control and the optional celibacy of priests.

140.  In the Courts view, it is self-evident that this kind of remark falls within the freedom of expression protected by Article 10 of the Convention. Nevertheless, and even though the remarks were not taken into account by the domestic courts (see paragraph 106 above), that does not mean that the Catholic Church was precluded from acting on them, in the enjoyment of its autonomy, which is also protected by the Convention under Article 9. In this connection, the Court observes that in assessing the seriousness of the conduct of an individual employed by the Church it is necessary to take into accountthe proximity between the persons activity and the Churchs proclamatory mission (seeSchüth, cited above, § 69). In the present case, that proximity is clearly very close.

141.  Consequently, the applicant was voluntarily part of the circle of individuals who were bound, for reasons of credibility, by a duty of loyalty towards the Catholic Church, thus limiting his right to respect for his private life to a certain degree. In the Courts view, the fact of being seen as campaigning publicly in movements opposed to Catholic doctrine clearly runs counter to that duty. In addition, there is little doubt that the applicant, as a former priest and director of a seminary, was or must have been aware of the substance and significance of that duty (see, mutatis mutandis, Obst, cited above, § 50).

142.  In addition, the Court takes the view that the changes brought about by the publicity given to the applicants membership of MOCEOP and by the remarks appearing in the article were all the more important asthe applicant had been teachingadolescents, who were not mature enough to make a distinction between information that was part of theCatholic Churchs doctrine and that which corresponded to the applicants own personal opinion.

(δ)  States responsibility as employer

143.  The Court further notes that, unlike the situation in the three German cases cited above,Siebenhaar, SchüthandObst, where the applicants were employed by their respective Churches, the applicant in the present case, like all religious-education teachers in Spain, was employed and remunerated by the State. That aspect, however, is not such as to affect the extent of the duty of loyalty imposed on the applicant vis-à-vis the Catholic Churchor the measures that the latter is entitled to adopt if that duty is breached. This analysis is confirmed by the fact that, in the majority of Council of Europe member States, the Churches and religious communities concerned have a power of co-decision or even an exclusive role in the appointment and dismissal of religious-education teachers,regardless of which institution finances such teaching, directly or indirectly(see paragraph 67 above).

(ε)  Severity of the sanction

144.  The Court has previously found it to be of particular importance, albeit in a somewhat different context, that an employee who has been dismissed by an ecclesiastical employerwill have limited opportunities of finding another job. This is especially true where the employer has a predominant position in a given sector of activity and enjoys certain derogations from the ordinary law, or where the dismissed employee has specific qualifications that make it difficult, if not impossible, to find a new job outside the employing Church, as wasthe case for the present applicant (see, mutatis mutandis, Schüth, cited above, § 73).

145.  As to the consequences for the applicant of the non-renewal of his contract of employment, there is no doubt that thisdecision constituted a sanction entailing serious consequences for his private and family life. However, in his memorandum, the Bishop took those difficulties into account, pointing out that the applicant would be entitled to unemployment benefit (seeparagraph 19above). It must be noted in this connection that after the non-renewal of his contract the applicant did receive such benefit.

146.  The consequences for the applicant must also be seen in the light of the fact that he had knowingly placed himself in a situation that was incompatible with the Churchs precepts.As a result of his former responsibilities within the Church, the applicant was aware of its rules and knew that his conduct placed him in a situation of precariousnessvis-à-visthe Bishop and made the renewal of his contract dependent upon the latters discretion. He should therefore have expected that the voluntary publicity of his membership of MOCEOP would not be devoid of consequences for his contract. The Court notes that, even though the applicant had not received any prior warning before the decision not to renew his contract, he knew that his contract was subject to annual renewal if approved by the Bishop, thus involving the possibility for the latter to assess, on a regular basis, the applicants fulfilment of his heightened duty of loyalty. Lastly, the applicant knew that, in this connection, the Church had already shown tolerance in allowing him to teach Catholic religion for six years, that is,for as long as his personal situation which was incompatible with the precepts of that religion was not promoted publicly. Moreover, it should be noted that, for the purposes of the present case, a less restrictivemeasure for the applicant would certainly not have had the same effectiveness in terms of preserving the credibility of the Church. It thus does not appear that the consequences of the decision not to renew his contract were excessive in the circumstances of the case, having regard in particular to the fact that the applicant had knowingly placed himself in a situation that was completely in opposition to the Churchs precepts.

(ζ)  Review by domestic courts

147.  As regards, lastly, the review carried out by the domestic courts, it should be pointed out that, whilst Article 8 contains no explicit procedural requirements, the Court cannot satisfactorily assess whether the reasons adduced by national authorities to justify their decisions were “sufficient” for the purposes of Article 8 § 2 without at the same time determining whether the decision-making process, seen as a whole, provided the applicant with the requisite protection of his interests (see W. v. the United Kingdom, 8 July 1987, §§ 62 and 64, Series A no. 121;Elsholz v. Germany [GC], no. 25735/94, § 52, ECHR 2000VIII; andSahin v. Germany [GC],no. 30943/96, § 68, ECHR 2003VIII).

148.  In the present case, the Courtobserves at the outset that the applicantwas able to complain about the non-renewal of his contract before the Employment Tribunal and then before the Murcia High Court of Justice, which examined the lawfulness of the impugned measure under ordinary labour law, taking ecclesiastical law into account, and weighed up the competing interests of the applicant and the Catholic Church (see, mutatis mutandis,Siebenhaar,cited above;Schüth,cited above, § 59;andObst, cited above, § 45). At last instance the applicant was able to lodge an amparoappeal with the Constitutional Court.

149.  In this connection the Court notes that under Spanish law the notion of autonomy of religious communities is supplemented by the principle of the States religious neutrality, as recognised in Article 16 § 3 of the Constitution. This principle precludes the national authorities from ruling on the substance of religious notions such as “scandal” or the celibacy of priests. Admittedly, the duty of neutrality is not unlimited, as the Constitutional Court itself has indicated in finding that the issue in such cases is to reconcile the requirements of religious freedom and the States religious neutrality with the judicial protection of teachers fundamental rights and employment relationships. Thus, in a case concerning a decision not to renew the contract of a religious-education teacher on account of her civil marriage to a divorced man, the Constitutional Court found that there had been a violation of the complainants right not to suffer discrimination and of her right to respect for her freedom of opinion concerning marriage and for her personal and family privacy (see paragraph 62 above).

150.  In the present case, which is similar, but can be distinguished in important aspects from the other case, the domestic courts found that, in so far as thereasoning for the non-renewal decision had been strictly religious, they had to confine themselves to verifying respect for the fundamental rights at stake in the present case. In particular, after carefully examining the facts, the Constitutional Court took the view that the States duty of neutrality precluded it from ruling on the notion of “scandal” used by the Bishop to refuse the renewal of the applicants contract, or on the merits of the optional celibacy of priests advocated by the applicant. However, it examined the extent of the interference with the applicants rights and took the view that it wasneither disproportionate nor unconstitutional, but that itcould be justified in terms of respect for the lawful exercise by the Catholic Church of its religious freedomin its collective or community dimension, in conjunction with the right of parents to choose their childrens religious education (see paragraph 43 above). Even though the parents of children who attended the applicants classes showed their support after the publicity given to his situation, the Courtis of the view that the Dioceses argument was not unreasonable, since it sought to protectthe integrity of the teaching.

151.  In the light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the domestic courts took into account all the relevant factors and, even though they emphasised the applicants right to freedom of expression (see paragraph 45 above), they weighed up the interests at stake in detail and in depth (see, mutatis mutandis, Obst, cited above, § 49), within the limits imposed on them by the necessary respect for the autonomy of the Catholic Church. The conclusions thus reached do not appear unreasonable to the Court, particularly in the light of the fact that the applicant, as he had been a priest and the director of a seminary, was or must have been aware, in accepting the task of teaching Catholic religion, of the potential consequences ofthe heightened duty of loyalty vis-à-vis the Catholic Church by which he thus became bound, for the purpose, in particular, of preserving the credibility of his teaching (see, mutatis mutandis, Obst, cited above, § 50). The factthat the Constitutional Court carried outa thorough analysis is all the more evident as two dissenting opinions were appended to its judgment, thus showing that the court examined the issue from various perspectives, whilst refraining from ruling on the substance of the principles to which the Church adhered. As to the Churchs autonomy, it does not appear, in the light of the review exercised by the national courts, that it was improperly invoked in the present case, that is to say that the Bishops decision not to propose the renewal of the applicants contract cannot be said to have contained insufficient reasoning, to have been arbitrary, or to have been taken for a purpose that was unrelated to the exercise of the Catholic Churchs autonomy.

(e) Conclusion

152.  In conclusion, having regard to the States margin of appreciation in the present case, the Court is of the view that the interference with the applicants right to respect for his private life was not disproportionate.

153.  Accordingly, there has been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

II.  ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 14TAKEN TOGETHER WITH ARTICLE 8OF THE CONVENTION ANDOF ARTICLES 9 AND 10, TAKEN SEPARATELY OR TOGETHER WITH ARTICLE 14 OF THE CONVENTION

154.  The applicant complained that the decision not to renew his contract had unjustifiably given precedence to the Churchs rights to religious autonomy and to freedom of associationoverhis right to respect for his private life. In his view, a new “right to dismiss”, of a discriminatory nature, had thus been created in favour of religious entities.

155.  The Court is of the view that these complaints are related to the complaint underArticle 8 examined above. Having regard to itsfinding on that provision (see paragraphs 152and 153above), it does not need to examine them separately (see, among other authorities, MartínezMartínezv. Spain, no. 21532/08, § 57, 18 October 2011).

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT,

1.  Holds,by nine votes to eight, that there has been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention;

2.  Holds, by fourteenvotes tothree, that there is no need to examine separatelythe complaints under Article14taken together withArticle 8 of the Convention and under Articles 9 and 10, taken separately or together with Article 14 of the Convention.

Done in English and in French, and delivered at a public hearing in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 12 June 2014.

Johan CallewaertDean Spielmann
Deputy to the RegistrarPresident

In accordance with Article 45 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 74 § 2 of the Rules of Court, the following separate opinions are annexed to this judgment:

(a)  joint dissenting opinion of JudgesSpielmann, Sajó, Karakaş, Lemmens, Jäderblom, Vehabović, Dedov and SaizArnaiz;

...

(c)  dissenting opinion of Judge Sajó;

(d)  dissenting opinion of Judge Dedov.

D.S.
J.C.

 

JOINT DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGES SPIELMANN, SAJÓ, KARAKAŞ, LEMMENS, JÄDERBLOM, VEHABOVIĆ, DEDOV AND SAIZARNAIZ

1.  We regret that we cannot share the view of the majority that there has been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention in this case.

We have points of disagreement on almost every aspect of the case: the establishment of the facts; the characterisation of the facts in the light of Article 8; and the application of Article 8 to the facts of the case.

A.  The facts

2. In paragraph 104 of the judgment, the majority state that the applicant had argued before the Constitutional Court that the cause of the non-renewal of his contract lay in “his position as a member of MOCEOP and his dissenting opinions about the celibacy of Catholic priests”. We have a slightly different understanding of the applicants argument. In our view, he argued that the termination of his employment was due, firstly, to the fact of having made public his position as a member of MOCEOP, and secondly, to his public appearance as a married priest. The Constitutional Court, for its part, noted that the lower courts had linked the termination of the applicants employment to the newspaper article that disclosed the fact that he was married and had five children, on the one hand, and his membership of and participation in a movement that challenged certain precepts of the Catholic Church, on the other, and it based its findings on those two points (see paragraph 41 of the present judgment).

3.  We agree with the majority that there is no indication in any of the domestic decisions that the statements allegedly made to the journalist by four members of the movement, including the applicant, in favour of the optional celibacy of priests, or the critical statements made by unnamed members of the movement about abortion, birth control, divorce and sex, were taken into account by the domestic courts as a basis for the non-renewal of the applicants contract (see paragraph 106 of the judgment). We conclude from this that the termination of the contract was not based on any criticism publicly voiced by the applicant, but merely on his family situation and his membership of an association of married priests.

4. Elsewhere in the judgment the majority conclude that “the applicant could be understood to have beencampaigning in favour of his way of life to bring about a change in the Churchs rules”,referring tohis open criticism of those rules” (see paragraph 137 of the judgment, emphasis added; see also paragraph 141 of the judgment: “being seen as campaigning publicly”). We do not think that such a conclusion can be drawn from the facts of the case.

B.  The States responsibility for the non-renewal of the applicants appointment

5.  While none of the parties disputed the States responsibility for the non-renewal of the applicants appointment, we think that it may be useful to clarify how we see that responsibility.

6.  It is obvious that the responsibility of a State is engaged if a violation of one of the rights and freedoms defined in the Convention is the result of non-observance by that State of its obligation under Article 1 to secure those rights and freedoms in its domestic law to everyone within its jurisdiction (see Costello-Roberts v. the United Kingdom, 25 March 1993, § 26, Series A no. 247-C; Woś v. Poland (dec.), no. 22860/02, § 60, ECHR 2005-IV; and Storck v. Germany, no. 61603/00, § 101, ECHR 2005-V).

7.  As has been emphasised by the Court, a State cannot absolve itself of its obligations under the Convention by delegating powers relating to these obligations to non-State bodies. The exercise of State powers which affects Convention rights and freedoms raises an issue of State responsibility regardless of the form in which these powers happen to be exercised. This is the case, for instance, where the State delegates some of its powers to a body whose activities are regulated by private law (see Woś, cited above, § 72; Storck, cited above, § 103; Kotov v. Russia [GC], no. 54522/00, § 92, 3 April 2012; and OKeeffe v. Ireland [GC], no. 35810/09, § 150, ECHR 2014). Likewise, the Convention does not exclude the transfer of competences under an international agreement to an international organisation provided that Convention rights continue to be secured. The responsibility of the State continues even after such a transfer (see Matthews v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 24833/94, § 32, ECHR 1999-I).

8.  Turning to the facts of the present case, we note that the appointment of teachers of Catholic religion in State schools is the object of Article III of the 1979 Agreement between Spain and the Holy See. According to that treaty provision, teachers are appointed by the competent State authority. However, this authority has a limited choice, as it can appoint a candidate only from among those who have been proposed by the Ordinary of the diocese. Moreover, it follows from the same provision that the appointment of a teacher cannot be renewed if he or she is no longer proposed by the Church authority. The State has thus agreed to delegate part of its powers with respect to the appointment of teachers in State schools to a body that is not a public authority. It should be noted that this is an option freely chosen by the Spanish State. While there are many member States of the Council of Europe that have chosen the same option, it is by no means an option that reflects a consensus in Europe (see paragraph 67 of the judgment). In any event, the delegation of part of the States powers does not take away the fact that the act about which the applicant complains, the non-renewal of his appointment, is a decision made by the Ministry of Education, not by the Bishop of Cartagena. The alleged violation of the Convention is fully attributable to Spain, notwithstanding the fact that the Spanish Ministry was bound by the Bishops decision not to propose the applicant for reappointment (see, mutatis mutandis, BosphorusHavaYollarıTurizmveTicaretAnonimŞirketi v. Ireland [GC], no. 45036/98, § 137, ECHR 2005-VI, and Nada v. Switzerland [GC], no. 10593/08, § 121, ECHR 2012). Moreover, as mentioned above, the fact that the Ministry was bound by that decision results from the legal framework set up by the Spanish authorities themselves.

C.  The applicability of Article 8

9.  The majority hold that Article 8 of the Convention is applicable, mainly because the non-renewal of the applicants contract had repercussions on his professional life (see paragraphs 109-13 of the judgment). We respectfully disagree, being of the opinion that the applicability of Article 8 is triggered, not by the effects of the decision not to renew the contract, but by the reasons that led to that decision.

10.  In our opinion, the non-renewal of the applicants employment contract was a direct consequence of the publicity given to his situation as a married priest and his membership of the MOCEOP. We find that this situation formed part of the applicants private and family life. The Ministrys decision was based on the Bishops disapproval of these aspects of the applicants private and family life, or at least on the Bishops disapproval of the fact that these aspects had received publicity. The publicity given to the applicants situation does not, in our opinion, alter the fact that it is part of his private and family life. On the contrary, we consider that a persons manifestation of his or her private and family life is covered by the right to respect for private and family life.

It is because of this underlying ground for the Ministrys decision that we consider that the applicants right to respect for his private life and his family life was interfered with (compare, with respect to an interference with the exercise of freedom of expression, in the formof, respectively, an actual dismissal and an announced intention not to reappoint,because ofthe applicants opinions, Vogt v. Germany, 26 September 1995, § 44, Series A no. 323, and Wille v. Liechtenstein [GC], no. 28396/95, § 50, ECHR 1999VII).

11.  The fact that the Ministrys decision had repercussions, even serious ones, on the applicants professional situation as a teacher is not decisive for us, as far as the issue of the applicability of Article 8 is concerned. We do not need to have recourse to the wide interpretation of the notion of “private life” as adopted by the majority. In our opinion, the case before our Court is not about the applicants employment rights, seen as elements of his right to respect for his private life. It is more fundamentally about the way the applicant wants to live his private life and his family life, and about a decision prompted by his personal choices in these areas. The fact that the decision had repercussions on the applicants professional situation does not change the nature of his human rights complaint.

D.  The interference by the State with the applicants fundamental rights

12.  We agree with the majority that the Ministrys decision not to reappoint the applicant should be characterised as an interference by the State with the applicants human rights, not as an alleged failure by the State to take positive measures to protect the applicant against an interference by the Church (see paragraphs 114-16 of the judgment). It is that interference by the State that is the direct object of the Courts scrutiny.

13.  We would like to add that the foregoing does not necessarily prevent the Court from examining whether the Bishops decision not to propose the applicant for appointment violated his human rights. This was indeed the approach adopted by the Constitutional Court, which stated that if the decision of the Diocese were to be found to violate the applicants fundamental rights, the ensuing act of the Ministry would as a consequence have to be annulled. However, attention should not be diverted from what is the main question in this case: did the States reaction to the Churchs decision respect the applicants fundamental rights? It is State action that our Court has to review.

E.  Justification for the interference

1. “In accordance with the law”

14.  The majority accept that the impugned interference was “foreseeable”, having regard to the applicable provisions of canon law, as far as the Bishops reaction is concerned, and of the Agreement between Spain and the Holy See, as far as the Ministrys subsequent decision is concerned (see paragraph 119 of the judgment).

15. We are not so sure about the first point. It is true that the applicant, as a priest, must have been aware of the duty of loyalty imposed on him by canon law. However, there are some disturbing elements that make the foreseeability of the Bishops reaction much less evident than it may seem at first sight. In this context we first note, like the majority, that the Bishop relied in particular on the notion of “scandal” to refuse the renewal of the applicants appointment. However, it was only in the rescript of 20 August 1997, that is, after the publication of the article rendering public the applicants situation, that the absence of a scandal was explicitly mentioned as a condition for his ability to continue to teach Catholic religion. Should the applicant have anticipated the rescript? We further note that Canon 804 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law provides, as a general rule, that the local Ordinary must ensure that those who teach Catholic religion are “outstanding in true doctrine, in the witness of their Christian life, and in their teaching ability”. When the applicant participated in the meeting of MOCEOP that was the subject of the article in La Verdad, his personal and family situation and his membership of MOCEOP had remained the same for the past six years and he had never received any warning on that subject from the Church authorities. Should the applicant have expected such a reaction from the Bishop after so many years of tolerance?

16.  We do not have to come to a firm conclusion on this point. We are of the opinion that the interference was in any event unjustified for another reason, as we will explain below.

2. Legitimate aim

17.  We agree with the majority that the Ministrys decision pursued a legitimate aim (see paragraph 122 of the judgment).

3. Necessary in a democratic society

(a) General principles

(i)  Balancing of rights and proportionality

18.  We agree with the principles recalled in paragraphs 123-25 of the judgment. We would like to stress, in particular, the need for the public authorities, when faced with a conflict between two competing fundamental rights, to make sure that in the case of a restriction of one (or both) of those rights, the interference remains proportionate to the aim pursued (see paragraph 123). Domestic courts in particular, when they are reviewing the compatibility of administrative acts with human rights standards, must conduct an in-depth examination of the circumstances of the case and a thorough balancing exercise to weigh up the competing interests, in accordance with the principle of proportionality (see SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun”v. Romania [GC], no. 2330/09, § 159, ECHR 2013, referring to Schüth v. Germany, no. 1620/03, § 67, ECHR 2010, and Siebenhaar v. Germany, no. 18136/02, § 45, 3 February 2011).

19. We would further like to emphasise the importance of a review principle that was stated by the Court in Nada: in order to address the question whether the measures taken against an individual were proportionate to the legitimate aim that they were supposed to pursue, and whether the reasons given by the domestic authorities were “relevant and sufficient”, the Court had to examine, among other things, whether the authorities took sufficient account of the particular nature of the individuals case and whether they adopted, in the context of their margin of appreciation, the measures that were called for in order to adapt the applicable legal regime to the individuals situation (see Nada, cited above, § 185). This is a principle that lies at the heart of the Courts review of the conduct of the domestic authorities in the present case.

(ii)  Autonomy of religious communities

20.  The present case raises the question of the extent to which the State has to respect the autonomy of a religious community like the Catholic Church. The majority refer to a number of principles (paragraphs 127-30 of the judgment), with which we do not disagree. We would, however, like to mention some other principles which seem particularly relevant in the present case.

21.  When a dispute about an act of a religious community is brought before a secular court, it is for that court to ensure that the autonomy of the community can be observed in accordance with the applicable law, including the Convention. The autonomy of religious communities is not absolute. The courts should not therefore confine themselves, for instance, to merely verifying the existence of a decision taken by the competent religious authority and then attach civil consequences to that decision (see Lombardi Vallauri v. Italy, no. 39128/05, § 51, 20 October 2009). On the contrary, the principle of autonomy does not prevent courts from reviewing, from a formal point of view, whether the decision of the religious community is duly reasoned, is not arbitrary and has been taken for a purpose that is not unrelated to the exercise of autonomy by the faith group concerned (compare ibid., §§ 52-54). From a more substantive point of view, while it is not for the courts to examine the religious grounds of a decision taken by a religious community (see, mutatis mutandis, ibid., § 50), they must verify that such a decision does not produce effects that constitute a disproportionate interference with the fundamental rights of those affected by the decision (see paragraph 18 above).

22.  These principles apply in particular where an individual is dismissed following a decision by an ecclesiastical authority based on events that relate to the individuals exercise of human rights. While it is true that, under the Convention, an employer whose ethos is based on religion or on a philosophical belief may impose specific duties of loyalty on its employees, a decision to dismiss based on a breach of such duty, especially when prompted by events relating to the exercise of Convention rights, must be subjected to a form of judicial scrutiny that involves a proper balancing of the right of the religious community to respect for its autonomy against the individuals human rights, in accordance with the principle of proportionality (see, mutatis mutandis, Obst v. Germany, no. 425/03, § 43, 23 September 2010;Schüth, cited above, §§ 57 and 69; and Siebenhaar, cited above, § 40). These principles are all the more relevant when the dismissal is decided by a State authority on the basis of a binding proposal or opinion of an ecclesiastical authority.

(b) The necessity of the interference in the present case

23. In paragraphs 133-52 of the judgment the majority set out the reasons leading them to the conclusion that the interference with the applicants right to respect for his private life was not disproportionate. There are a number of statements in that part of the judgment with which we disagree. In fact, we would follow a very different reasoning. Rather than criticising the majority opinion, we prefer to set out our own reasoning, including here and there a critical comment on the majoritys reasoning. We would like to begin with an analysis of the conduct of the domestic authorities, in particular in the light of their duty to respect the principle of proportionality. We will then turn to the review we would have liked to have seen undertaken by the Court. We will end with our conclusions on the requirement of “necessity in a democratic society”.

(i)  The domestic authorities reaction to the decision of the Bishop of Cartagena

24.  The Ministry of Education accepted the decision of the Bishop of Cartagena not to propose the applicant for renewal of his appointment as a legal obstacle to such renewal. The Ministry thus applied the 1979 Agreement between Spain and the Holy See, which made the appointment of teachers of Catholic religion dependent upon a proposal by the Ordinary of the diocese. In so far as the Bishops decision indicated that, according to the Catholic Church, the applicant was no longer deemed suitable to teach Catholic religion, this was a matter that could legitimately be left to the exclusive discretion of the Bishop. Indeed, by recognising the binding force of the Bishops decision, the Ministry gave full effect to the principle of the States religious neutrality, as recognised in Article 16 § 3 of the Spanish Constitution, a principle that also flows from freedom of religion as guaranteed by Article 9 of the Convention (see paragraph 128 of the judgment). The decision not to renew the applicants contract, as a teacher of Catholic religion and ethics, is therefore not per se incompatible with the Convention. In other words, the States interference with the applicants right to respect for his private and family life is, in our opinion, based on relevant reasons. We would like to add that, for that reason, we do not need to examine whether the applicant can legitimately be considered to have breached his duty of loyalty to the Church, an element that plays a central role in the majoritys reasoning. In our opinion, this is a matter that could be debated before an ecclesiastical court. For us it is sufficient to note that the Bishop considered that the applicant was no longer suitable to teach Catholic religion and ethics, on whatever ground he reached that conclusion: that assessment was not one to be reviewed by the domestic authorities, and should likewise not be scrutinised by our Court.

25.  The fact that, in line with the applicable legal framework, the Ministry gave effect to the Bishops decision, did not absolve the domestic authorities of the obligation to respect the principle of proportionality in their relationship vis-à-vis the applicant (see paragraph 19 above).

26.  In this connection, we note that the Ministry simply endorsed the Bishops decision, without more. It did not provide reasons for its refusal to renew the applicants appointment, apart from referring to that decision (compare Lombardi Vallauri, cited above, § 49). It did not take any action other than not renewing the applicants contract. There is thus no evidence that the Ministry took into account the applicants right to respect for his private and family life or the effects of its own decision on that right.

27.  The decision of the Ministry was, however, the subject of proceedings before the domestic courts. The applicant complained about the non-renewal of his contract before the Employment Tribunal and then before the Murcia High Court of Justice, which examined the lawfulness of the impugned decision under ordinary labour law. The applicant lodged a further amparo appeal with the Constitutional Court, and that court explicitly weighed up the competing rights and interests of the applicant and of the Catholic Church. The applicant was thus able to obtain a review of the Ministrys decision and thereby, indirectly, also of the Bishops decision (see, mutatis mutandis, Obst, cited above, § 45; Schüth, cited above, § 59; and Siebenhaar, cited above, § 42). It would not have been impossible under domestic law for the courts to conclude that, by giving effect to the Bishops decision and by not renewing the applicants contract, the Ministry had violated the applicants human rights. Accordingly, they could have ordered his reinstatement (see the decision of the Constitutional Court of 14 April 2011 in case no. 51/2011, and its follow-up, mentioned in paragraphs 62-65 of the judgment). However, this did not happen in the case of the applicant.

28.  It remains to be seen whether the domestic courts arrived at conclusions that effectively struck a fair balance between the competing rights and interests. This is a matter for review by our Court, bearing in mind that the domestic authorities have a wide margin of appreciation in cases such as the present one (see paragraph 19 above).

(ii)  Review of the conduct of the domestic authorities

29.  It seems to us that for the purposes of the Courts review of the conduct of the domestic authorities in the present case, a number of factors are relevant.

30.  The first factor is the nature of the applicants position. As far as his position within the Catholic Church was concerned, we note that the applicant received dispensation from the obligation of celibacy from the Vatican only after the publication of the article in La Verdad and thirteen years after having requested it. It appears that, from that moment on, he lost his clerical status, as was stipulated in the rescript. This would mean that from the point of view of canon law he was still a cleric at the time of the “scandal”, albeit a suspended cleric. Whatever the applicants situation might have been under canon law, from an outside perspective he was in any event to be regarded as mandated by the Catholic Church to teach Catholic religion. As far as his secular position was concerned, he was a teacher appointed by the Ministry and had entered into a contract with it. He was therefore an employee of the public education authority (see the Constitutional Courts decision of 14 April 2011, no. 51/2011, quoted in paragraph 62 of the judgment). The fact that his salary was paid by the Catholic Church, as noted by the Government, would not seem to change that status. Besides, the State provided the Catholic Church with the necessary funds, in the form of grants. The applicant thus had a double status: he was an employee of the public education authority, and at the same time owed a specific loyalty to the Catholic Church.

31.  The second factor is the decision-making process, within both the Catholic Churchs structures and the State administration. It seems that the Bishops decision not to propose the applicant for renewal of his appointment was taken without any prior warning and without any opportunity for the applicant to be heard by the Church hierarchy. Neither is there any indication that the applicant was heard by the Ministry before it decided to follow the Bishops decision. These are features that make it difficult to ensure a fair balancing of the relevant rights and interests. The judicial review by the domestic courts can compensate for this lack of hearing in part, but not fully.

32.  The third factor is the nature of the interference with the applicants fundamental rights. The decision not to renew his appointment was based on his situation as a married priest and his membership of MOCEOP. We consider that in the given circumstances these were important elements of the applicants private and family life.

33.  The fourth factor consists of the specific circumstances surrounding the Bishops decision not to propose the applicant for reappointment.

In this connection we first note that the applicants situation had been known for many years to the Church authorities and had apparently not as such constituted a reason for considering the applicant unsuitable to teach Catholic religion and ethics.

Furthermore, it was not the applicant himself who published an article about his situation, but a journalist who wrote about the meeting of MOCEOP and included both a photograph of the applicant and his family and a description of the views held by a group of former priests including the applicant. The majority describe the applicant as having “accepted” the publication (see paragraph 136 of the judgment) and the publicity given to his membership of MOCEOP as being “voluntary” (see paragraph 146 of the judgment). We do not find that there is sufficient evidence to come to such conclusions.

Another point to be noted is that when the applicant took part in that meeting and his situation was subsequently made public, he had not yet received the dispensation from celibacy and therefore could not be bound by any conditions pertaining to such dispensation, in particular the obligation to avoid a “scandal”, within the meaning of this term under canon law. That point was in fact emphasised by the public prosecutors office before the Constitutional Court (see paragraph 36 of the judgment) when it submitted that the applicants amparo appeal should be allowed.

We lastly note that the dispensation was granted thirteen years after the applicant had requested it and nine months after the publication of the press article. It would appear from this timing that, while a rescript normally grants a privilege, dispensation or other favour (see Canon 59 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law), it was used in the applicants case to create the basis for the Bishops withdrawal of the certificate attesting to the applicants suitability to teach Catholic religion and ethics. The majority go even further than we would, and see the dispensation itself “as part of the sanction imposed on the applicant as a result of his conduct” (see paragraph 136 of the judgment, emphasis added).

34.  The fifth factor lies in the repercussions of the applicants situation, or the public disclosure thereof, on his teaching ability. This is an element referred to by the Diocese of Cartagena in its memorandum of 11 November 1997. It indicated that the decision not to renew the applicants appointment was taken partly out of respect for the sensitivity of many parents who might be upset when they found out about that situation. It should be observed, however, that there is no evidence to suggest that the applicants teaching was at odds with the doctrine of the Catholic Church (see, mutatis mutandis, Vogt, cited above, § 60). In addition, the applicants situation had as such been known to the parents of pupils attending the education centres in which the applicant had been teaching. There is no evidence that the publicity about that situation had given rise to any protest on their part. On the contrary, the applicants teaching had received the parents express support, and also that of the other teachers.

35.  Finally, in order to assess the proportionality of the decision not to renew the applicants employment within the State education system, the effects of that measure for the applicant are a most important factor. As the majority observe, the Court has previously noted, albeit in a somewhat different context, that an employee who had been dismissed by an ecclesiastical employer had limited opportunities of finding another job (see paragraph 144 of the judgment, referring to Schüth, cited above, § 73). We consider that the same might be said in the case of the applicant, even though he was employed by the State, not by the Catholic Church. While his appointment was not renewed for reasons that were relevant in the context of his teaching of Catholic religion and ethics, there was no assessment at all of whether it would have been possible to renew his employment in another position, not involving any teaching of Catholic religion and ethics (compare United Nations Human Rights Committee, Ross v. Canada, Communication No. 736/1997, § 11.6, views of 18 October 2000). More generally, the Ministry did not consider any alternative measure, and instead barred the applicant entirely from continuing to work within the State education system.

We note that the majority consider whether a less restrictive measure could have been envisaged in the present case. However, they raise this question with respect to the measure taken by the Bishop. Whether or not it is correct to state that “a less restrictive measure for the applicant would certainly not have had the same effectiveness in terms of preserving the credibility of the Church”, as the majority do (paragraph 146 of the judgment), this is not, in our opinion, a relevant issue. It is not the Bishops decision that should be scrutinised, but the Ministrys reaction to that decision. The majority do not attach any real importance to the fact that the Ministry had the possibility, under Spanish law, of taking another decision rather than simply refusing to renew the applicants contract, and that the domestic courts had the power to force the Ministry to take such other decision (see paragraph 149 of the judgment, where the existence of the above-mentioned decision of the Constitutional Court of 14 April 2011, no. 51/2011, is merely used as an argument to illustrate the general point that the Constitutional Court can offer judicial protection of the fundamental rights of teachers in an employment relationship).

There is no indication in the present case that the Ministry took – or even attempted to take – an alternative measure, in order to adapt its decision to the applicants situation and the seriousness of the interference with his private and family life. As a result of the Ministrys decision, the applicant was obliged, with little notice, to give up the professional activity he had carried on for several years. He had to live on unemployment benefit and later found an apparently not so attractive job in a museum.

(c)  Conclusion

36.  To sum up, the basis of the non-renewal of the applicants appointment lay in the publicity given to his situation as a married priest and his membership of MOCEOP. It may well be that under canon law this publicity amounted to a “scandal”, which made it necessary for the Bishop of Cartagena to withdraw his certificate attesting to the applicants suitability to teach Catholic religion and ethics. However, whatever the consequences under canon law, it was for the Ministry, and later for the domestic courts, to make sure that the secular reaction to the Bishops decision was adapted to the applicants situation and in particular that it did not interfere disproportionately with his right to respect for his private and family life. In this connection we have noted a number of factors which are of relevance in assessing the proportionality of the measure complained of. Following this analysis, we can now say that some of these factors appear to be particularly relevant. Firstly, it was not the applicants situation as such –which had been tolerated for many years by the Church – but the publicity given to it, that led to the non-renewal of his contract. While such publicity could be problematic for the Church, it is difficult to conceive how it could be so for the State. Secondly, as far as the applicants teaching ability was concerned, there is no evidence that he had taught religion in a manner that contradicted the doctrine of the Church, or that the publicity given to his situation had resulted in disapproval by his pupils parents or by his school. Thirdly, and most importantly, the States reaction was a drastic one: the applicant was not reappointed and no other measure was taken, with the result that he was in fact dismissed.

37.  Having regard to all the circumstances of the present case, we find that the reasons put forward by the domestic authorities to justify the non-renewal of the applicants employment, that is to say, ultimately, certain events relating to his personal and family situation, are not sufficient for it to be established that the interference with his right to respect for his private and family life was proportionate. In our opinion, it has therefore not been demonstrated that the interference was necessary in a democratic society to achieve the legitimate aim pursued, namely to respect the autonomy of the Catholic Church in relation to the authenticity and credibility of education in Catholic religion and ethics.

38.  We therefore conclude that there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

 

JOINT DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGES SPIELMANN, SAJÒ AND LEMMENS

To our regret, we do not share the view of the majority that there is no need to examine separately the complaints under Article 14 of the Convention, taken together with Article 8, or under Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention, taken separately or together with Article 14.

Such a view might have been justified if the Court had found a violation of Article 8. However, since that is not the case, we are of the opinion that the Court should have pursued its examination of the applicants complaints. The applicant has the right to obtain an answer to the question whether any of his rights have been violated.

 

DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE SAJÓ

I agree with the dissenting opinion of my colleagues but I find it necessary to emphasise certain additional points which are relevant for a finding of a violation of Article 8 read in conjunction with Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention.

1.  The contract of a teacher of religion employed by the State in a State school was not renewed upon the request of the competent Bishop. Such non-renewal is to be understood as a dismissal[1]. Even seen as a mere non-renewal, it was an interference with the applicants Convention rights. The State, accepting the Bishops perspective, sanctioned an individual on the grounds of hisprivate and family life (and his right to marriage, as confirmed by the Vaticans dispensation) and for beliefs that he manifested publicly and as part of a movement, notwithstanding that “the protection of Article 10 of the Convention extends ... to the professional sphere of teachers”[2]. The applicant has suffered a disadvantage because of the exercise of core elements of these rights. The rights thus affected, especially the right to live with ones family without the threat of being dismissed for that reason, go to the heart of the right to respect for private life[3]. The State as employer[4], in collaboration with and on behalf of a particular private entity, namely the Church, interfered in the private and family life of the applicant by imposing certain duties affecting his Article 8, 10 and 11 rights, under the potential threat of loss of employment (compare Schüth v. Germany, no. 1620/03, § 40, ECHR 2010, as regards the positive obligations of the State). Moreover, he ultimately lost his job and this per se affected his private and professional social relations. However, I do not believe that our jurisprudence requires us to construe employment as such as a Convention right within the meaning of private life[5]. Loss of employment as a matter of social private life is not the key issue here and the impact of the loss of employment on the applicants social private life is secondary[6].

2.  The reasons for the applicants dismissal remain opaque. The formal explanationwas that the Bishop informed the State authority that the applicants contract should not be renewed. The official Memorandum of the Bishop of Cartagena (11 November 1997) that was submitted to the public authority after the dismissal refers to the fact that the earlier proposal had been based on the Bishops obligation to disqualify the teacher once his “situation” had become public knowledge in order to avoid causing further “scandal” in view of “his personal and employment situation”. According to the Memorandum, the power of the Bishop originated in the Popes rescript of 20 August 1997 (dispensation of celibacy). The applicant was notified of the rescript on 15 September 1997. The applicants “situation” had become “publicly known” through the publication of an article in November 1996. The Murcia court expressly referred to the publication as being the origin of the public knowledge of the “situation”: “his appearance in the press having been the cause of his dismissal” (Murcia Employment Tribunal no. 3, judgment of 28 September 2000). In the press publication the applicant was presented not only as a married priest but also as a supporter of specific ideas.

It is primarily for the fact-finding court to determine the facts, including the grounds of the dismissal, even though on appeal and in the amparo process there was some confusion in this connection. The recapitulation of the grounds for the dismissal as presented by the Murcia court cannot be disregarded. Accordingly, the family status, as publicly displayed, and the “opinions” of the applicant were part of the “situation” as understood by the Bishop and therefore served as grounds for dismissal.

3.  A teacher of religion in Spain operates in a State school within a scheme that is intended to enable freedom of religion, and more specifically the collective exercise of religion through a religious organisation, in the present case the Catholic Church. In order to ensure the autonomy of the Church, which stems from the needs and rights of such free exercise, the State chose to cooperate with the Church in the form of an Agreement. This was intended to provide adequate Church control over the teaching of religion, and consequently those who taught religion on behalf of the Church. It is uncontested that the teaching of religion has to be in conformity with principles as understood by the Church (in the context of the Catholic religion), and that the teacher must be credible, as determined by the Church. The religion teacher has specific obligations of loyalty to the Church. The bishop supervises the professional aptitude of such teachers, which goes beyond formal qualification and faithful presentation of the religious position, that is to say, the teachings of the Church. This does not mean that, just because the bishop finds a teachers lessons appropriate, the public authorities cannot object to the teachings if they contravene public policy (or the national curriculum), or if the public employees behaviour is contrary to pedagogical or other professional expectations.

4.  As the Court stated in SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun” v. Romania ([GC], no. 2330/09, ECHR 2013), the autonomy of religious organisations is not absolute. This is true even when it comes to clergy members work, which pursues a spiritual purpose and is “carried out within a Church enjoying a certain degree of autonomy” (ibid., § 144). The Court has thus set certain limits on Church autonomy. It cannot undermine the legal order that safeguards fundamental rights (see also RefahPartisi (the Welfare Party) and Others v. Turkey [GC], nos. 41340/98, 41342/98, 41343/98 and 41344/98, § 119, ECHR 2003-II). Unfortunately, that important consideration is omitted from the present judgment.

Church autonomy requires a positive and respectful approach by the State, which stems from the States obligations to respect freedom of religion, and which is also applicable to the rules and regulations of the religious organisation in question. However, Church autonomy does not mean public recognition of a sovereign religious legal regime. The Court is not ready to accept any absolute immunity when it comes to fundamental human rights even in regard to State “sovereign immunity” (see Cudak v. Lithuania [GC], no. 15869/02, ECHR 2010, in the “access to court” context).

In RefahPartisi (the Welfare Party) and Others (cited above), it was held that the autonomy of a religious community was a matter to be respected but that it did not entail legal pluralism and did not require domestic courts to become the enforcers of autonomous religious decisions which fell short of their requirements of adequate justification. Without such reasons, legal evaluation becomes arbitrary and there can be no effective rights protection.

Courts do often consider semi-autonomous and “alien” legal regimes; they do so with respect to comity but within the requirements of “ordre public”. Such non-State legal regimes remain on the “radar” of the Convention. Even if, to some extent, the present case is about relations between the applicant and the Church, and therefore a matter outside the sphere ordinarily controlled by the State, the Convention guarantees still apply and arbitrariness cannot be tolerated in case it results in the restriction of rights[7].

The duty of the State to respect autonomy is a matter of degree. It is certainly greater in matters concerning the internal organisation of the life of a religious group and absolute when it comes to defining a religions doctrines. But not even internal relations and acts within the religious organisation or community are exempt from State obligations to protect Convention rights. Where the State intervenes to punish incitement to imminent violence advocated by an office holder of a religious organisation and stemming from a religious precept, that intervention will not be barred by considerations of Church autonomy. Moreover, the internal affairs of a religious organisation have effects that transgress the borders of autonomy which can be considered without contravening the principle of autonomy. Consider the following hypothetical example of a priest (or pastor, etc.) “employed” by a religious organisation such as the Catholic Church. The priest teaches religion to children on the premises of a State school, as permitted by school management or as enabled by law. It is up to the Church to conclude that the teachings of that teacher are not acceptable. As a rule it is not the business of the State to ask for the reasons of the Church behind a decision which results in the discontinuance of the teaching activity, except perhaps in a case where the reason is clearly racist in nature.

However, as soon as the priest loses financial benefits as a consequence of the above decision, the State is entitled to consider the situation. Where the impact of a decision that originates in the autonomous activities and decision-making of a religious organisation concerns relations outside that organisation, the weight of the religious organisations autonomy diminishes. This is the situation in the present case: the decision of the Bishop, which is protected to a very great extent within the Church, falls under the ordinary balancing scrutiny that the Court applies where two Convention rights collide. The internal reasons for the Bishops decision are not subject to the review of public authorities or domestic courts, nor of this Court; however, the effects ofthe decision are. Autonomy of religious organisations cannot entail violation of other Convention rights.

While the Court shies away from considering the implications of limited autonomy, the judgment contains another important reference to its functional limits. In paragraph 132, the Court refers to the duties of the State as determined in SindicatulPăstorulcel Bun” (cited above). In particular, it considers that Church autonomy does not exempt domestic courts from the duty to scrutinise the appropriateness of an autonomy-serving interference with a Convention right. Like domestic courts, the Court accepts that the religious organisation has to show that it is not violating the Convention. This means that while its internal reasons are beyond the reach of the State, the religious organisation must provide a “translation” of those arguments in a form that is understandable to the public. In other words, the explanation has to be accessible for normal comprehension, as determined judicially.

The difficulty in the present case is that, in its Agreement with the Holy See, the State accepted a specific arrangement that could not result in proper “translation” in the domestic courts. The Bishop was not party to the procedure, as the State was the formal employer, and hence it was the State which had to provide reasons on behalf of the Church as its proxy under the Agreement. The State was satisfied that the Bishops references to “scandal” were sufficient for judicial comprehension and not arbitrary by the judicial standards of public discourse. The State, however, could only second-guess the reasons for the dismissal – a second-guessing which was forced upon all the judicial bodies dealing with the matter. Consequently, the question of which rights were interfered with and the subsequent balancing of those rights became arbitrary.

The State also failed to provide grounds which would have made the dismissal understandable as non-arbitrary. Speculation about a “scandal” cannot provide sufficient reasons for interference with the rights of the applicant. In this context the undeniable duties of loyalty of the (former) priest cannot be properly evaluated. It is hard to accept a dismissal that is applied as a result of the exercise of Convention-protected rights where it has not been proved that the decision was not arbitrary, given that for a long time the same issue had not been a problem and was tolerated even after a report in the press. The undeniable right of the Church to determine who qualifies to teach religion under various religion-based criteria is duly taken into consideration by the Court; however, here the domestic judicial process was deprived of proper consideration of the genuine grounds for the dismissal and their weight in terms of the impact on the applicants rights.

It was well known in the local community that the applicant was married and had children. The same facts were also well known to the religious authorities. The priests views and involvement in a movement that challenged certain teachings of the Catholic Church (but was not prohibited by the Church authorities) were also known. For eleven years none of this constituted a scandal. According to domestic speculation, the situation only became a “scandal” once it was reported in a newspaper article. Once again, it is not for a State court to enquire what amounts to a “scandal” for the Church. But when the issue has consequences for public employment, it is necessary to make this comprehensible in order to be able to determine whether the resulting disadvantage is an ex-post interference with Convention rights. In the interpretation provided by the State and accepted both by the domestic courts and in the understanding of the Court, the publication of an article in which the known facts were displayed constituted the scandal. According to the Court, while this “going public” was not the applicants initiative, he should have objected to it. Was he thus expected not to walk in public with his family? Was he expected to make a statement saying that he did not share the views of the movement, when he was known to share those views? One cannot enjoy ones family and private life if one has to hide it, or live in the knowledge that unemployment might be the consequence of ones family relationships. Is a teacher of religion expected to be able to hold and express certain views and at the same time be particularly careful in preventing those views from becoming known? These expectations, contradictory as they may be, are the uncontested meaning and effect of the non-renewal.

The sequence of events contributes to the lack of a demonstration that the grounds for the interference were proportionate and not arbitrary. The applicant was employed as a priest after having been married and having five children. The Bishop found that the applicant had caused a scandal, and was therefore disqualified, ten months after the article in question. He relied on the “scandal” clause of the papal rescript that was communicated nine months after the events and which referred to the marriage that had taken place many years earlier.

In the absence of proper reasons (which the State authority, as a proxy of the Church, failed to give), the legal process intended to provide adequate protection of fundamental rights cannot be considered appropriate in the sense of providing relevant and sufficient reasons. In the absence of proper information it cannot be determined – as required by the rule of law – why the applicants exercise of his right to free expression, which was critical but clearly permitted within the Church, constituted a scandal. Nor is it clear why the fact of having a family became a scandal after more than a decade of the situation being known.

5.  The standards of judicial scrutiny applicable to a review of public acts which originate in a decision falling within the ambit of Church autonomy, where those acts affect Convention rights, have been set out in an exemplary manner by the Spanish Constitutional Court (see judgment no. 38/2007), which has reiterated that “[t]he civil effects of ecclesiastical decisions, regulated by civil law, are the exclusive jurisdiction of the civil judges and courts, as a consequence of the principles of a non-denominational State with no official religion (Article 16.3 of the Spanish Constitution)”.

Adequate judicial supervision cannot be provided unless religious considerations which affect civil or public law can be made legally cognisable for the benefit of the judicial authority. This is often referred to as the requirement of “translation”. This principle does not call into question the veracity of a Churchs positions, but rather concerns their applicability in civil and public relations. The position of a Churchregarding the teaching of religion is translated into the language of the Convention through reference to Article 9 and Article 2 of Protocol No. 1. Further, as stated by the Spanish Constitutional Court (judgment no. 38/2007):

[O]nce the strictly religious grounds for the decision have been determined, the court will have to weigh up any competing fundamental rights in order to determine to what extent the right to freedom of religion, exercised through the teaching of religion in schools, may affect the employees fundamental rights in their employment relationships.”

It is a pity that in this specific case the highest Spanish court and this Court have failed to apply these sound principles consistently. The “scandal” was not convincingly translated to meet the requisite judicial standards. Or better put, it was accepted that it was above and beyond the need for such translation. For this reason I could not agree with the majority.

 

DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE DEDOV

In the present case the Grand Chamber has divided almost in the middle. Both the majority andthe minority of judges (I joined the latter) used the same proportionality test, but they have come to opposite conclusions. This unfortunate and discouraging result forces me to present a principal argument in favour of a violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

Does the Churchs autonomy constitute a legitimate aim in the present case? Although the proportionality test is always objective and justified, mistakes could be made owing to a subjective understanding of the legitimate aim. The issue was raised by the Grand Chamber as to whether the protection of the autonomy of a religious organisation prevailed over the right to family life. But it is easy to see that, while the autonomy concept has been considered as the legitimate aim, at the same time it has beenregarded as one of competing rights in paragraphs 122 and 123 of the judgment. This approach is notacceptable. If the Courts task is to balance the rights and to place them into some hierarchy, it has to find another legitimate aim amongthe basic values and purposes of the Convention.

The Convention protects freedom of religion so that no one can be persecuted for their religious beliefs. But it does not entitle religious organisations, even in the name of autonomy, to persecute their members for exercising their fundamental human rights. If the Convention system is intended to combat totalitarianism, then there is no reason to tolerate the sort of totalitarianism that can be seen in the present case.

Indeed, for centuries celibacy has been a well-known and serious problem for thousands of priests who have suffered for their whole lives while concealing the truth about their family life from the Catholic Church and fearing punishment. The adverse consequences of the outdated rule of celibacy have beenportrayed by many writers from Victor Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) to Colleen McCullough (The Thorn Birds), as well as by numerous media reports, including those on clerical sex-abuse scandals in many countries.

Obviously, complete deprivation of family life violates the Convention, and it cannot be justified by any public interest or religious autonomy. Even the long-standing Catholic Church cannot protect itself behind the autonomy concept, as the celibacy rule contradicts the idea of fundamental human rights and freedoms. This, in my view, should be used as a principal reason for finding a violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

The right to family life is vital for any individual. For the purposes of the present case it cannot be regarded as just a “form of personal development” or a “right to establish relationships with other human beings” (paragraph 126 of the judgment). The right to have a family is one of the fundamental or, to be more precise, natural rights specified in the Convention. Family life cannot be impaired in favour of an organisations membership requirements, employment rules, functioning, religious doctrine or autonomy. This natural right cannot be impaired under any such circumstances, even if the applicant voluntarily agreed to abide by the celibacy rule (as he wanted to be a priest and to devote his life to this kind of service), because family life cannot be subjected to any transactioneither.

Therefore, the State cannot abstain from protecting the fundamental right to family life which prevails over any kind of organisational autonomy. However, the State has failed, not just to abstain from interference concerning the applicant, but also to exercise its positive obligation with respect to at least 6,000 priests of the Catholic Church. If the applicant, after many years of fear, gathered all his courage to make his family situation public in order to bring his humiliation to an end and to express his support for other married priests, he deserves to receive an adequate response from the Court in compliance with the aims of the Convention system. I believe that optional celibacy is the best way out of this problem and that it could also I hopeserve as a preventive measure against the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy in the future.

 

 


 

[1].  In Lombardi Vallauri v. Italy (no. 39128/05, § 38, 20 October 2009) the repeated renewal resulted in a situation where non-renewal was considered as termination and the Vogt[v. Germany, 26 September 1995, Series A no. 323] jurisprudence was found to be applicable: “While it is true that the applicant always worked under temporary contracts, the fact that they were renewed for over twenty years and that his academic qualities were recognised by his colleagues attests to the solidity of his professional situation.”

 

[2].  See Lombardi Vallauri, cited above, § 30.

 

[3].  “A duty of loyalty towards the Catholic Church [may limit an employee’s] right to respect for his private life [only] to a certain degree”. Imposing a sanction on conduct regarded as adultery under the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law” would be tantamount for the European Court to interpreting “the applicant’s signature on the contract ... as a personal unequivocal undertaking to live a life of abstinence in the event of separation or divorce [and] an interpretation of that kind would affect the very heart of the right to respect for the private life of the person concerned” (see Schüth v. Germany, no. 1620/03, §§ 71 et seq., ECHR 2010). Likewise, in Özpınar v. Turkey (no. 20999/04, § 48, 19 October 2010) it was not the dismissal that was central to the finding of an interference with private life but the actual investigative process and the fact that the dismissal was based on facts of private life: ... the Court is of the opinion that the inspector’s investigation into the applicant’s private and professional life, which included interviews with witnesses on a particular aspect of the applicant’s life, together with the resulting administrative dismissal, mainly on grounds related to her conduct, may be regarded as constituting a direct interference with the applicants’ right to respect for her private life (see mutatis mutandis, Vogt, cited above, § 44, and Smith and Grady v. the United Kingdom, nos. 33985/96 and 33986/96, § 71, ECHR 1999VI).”

 

[4].  In the Spanish legal system, as authoritatively determined by the Spanish Constitutional Court, “religion teachers are employees of the public education authorities and, as such, they receive the protection of the Constitution and Spanish labour laws, and have the same rights to seek relief from the Spanish courts.(Spanish Constitutional Court judgment no. 38/2007, 15 February 2007, point 7).

 

[5].  See Vogt, cited above,and Larissis and Others v. Greece, 24 February 1998, Reports of Judgments and Decisions1998I, or in the context of termination of employment, most recently Eweida and Others v. the United Kingdom, nos. 48420/10, 59842/10, 51671/10 and 36516/10, ECHR 2013, andRedfearn v. the United Kingdom, no. 47335/06, 6 November 2012. Even in Obst v. Germany(no. 425/03, § 40, 23 September 2010), with its wide-ranging concept of the positive obligation to protect private life against private intrusion by a private religious organisation, it was traditional private life (marriage and, perhaps living in a community) that was to be protected, not employment as a feature of private social life: In the present case the Court first observes that the applicant did not complain about an action on the part of the State, but about a failure thereby to protect his private sphere against interference by his employer.Schüth follows the same approach in the construction of the applicant’s Article 8 right, referring to extramarital relations and the right to have a child from those relations.

 

[6].  It is, however, an element of the bundle of Convention rights interfered with by the dismissal. It is for this reason that I amamong the judges expressing a joint dissenting opinion on the Article 8 issues(Opinion of Judges Spielmann, Sajó, Karakaş, Lemmens, Jäderblom, Vehabović, Dedov and SaizArnaiz).

 

[7].  See Negrepontis-Giannisis v. Greece, no. 56759/08, § 101, 3 May 2011:The Court reiterates that it is not in theory required to settle disputes of a purely private nature. That being said, in exercising the European supervision incumbent on it, it cannot remain passive where a national court’s interpretation of a legal act, be it a testamentary disposition, a private contract, a public document, a statutory provision or an administrative practice appears unreasonable, arbitrary or, as in the present case, blatantly inconsistent with the principles underlying the Convention (see Larkos v. Cyprus [GC], no. 29515/95, §§ 30-31, ECHR 1999-I, and Pla and Puncernau v. Andorra, no. 69498/01, § 59, ECHR 2004-VIII).”

 

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Presuda je povezana sa presudom Vrhovnog kasacionog suda Rev 2999/1999 od 4.9.2019. godine, kojom se odbija kao nesosnovana revizija tužilje-protivtužene, izjevljena protiv presude Apelacionog suda u Kragujevcu Gž2 119/19 od 04.04.2019. godine.

Prema utvrđenom činjeničnom stanju, tužilјa i tuženi su zaklјučili brak 06.05.2012. godine iz kog braka imaju maloletnog sina. Živeli su u kući u zajednici sa majkom i babom tuženog. Do prestanka bračne zajednice došlo je 04.09.2017. godine, kada je tužilјa napustila bračnu zajednicu. Bračni odnosi su ozbilјno i trajno poremećeni, nema izgleda da se bračna zajednica nastavi. Tužilјa, kada je napustila bračnu zajednicu prijavila je policiji tuženog za nasilјe u porodici. Navela je da je poslednje dve godine u braku bila u svađi sa tuženim, stalno su se raspravlјali, a tuženi je držao za ruke i drmao zbog čega su joj ostajale modrice, kao i da je dete često prisustvovalo ovim svađama. Po napuštanju zajednice otišla je da živi kod svojih roditelјa. Navodi tužilјe u pogledu vršenja nasilјa u porodici nisu ničim bili potkreplјeni. Presudom Osnovnog suda u Jagodini P2 411/17 od 24.12.2018. godine u stavu prvom izreke, brak zaklјučen dana 06.05.2014. je razveden na osnovu člana 41. Porodičnog zakona. U stavu drugom izreke, usvojen je tužbeni zahtev tuženog-protivtužioca pa je zajedničko maloletno dete stranaka sin poveren ocu koji će samostalno vršiti roditelјsko pravo. Obavezana je tužena-protivtužilјa da na ime svog doprinosa u izdržavanju deteta plaća mesečno određeni novčani iznos. Presudom je uređen je način održavanja ličnih odnosa detat sa majkom. Presudom Apelacionog suda u Kragujevcu Gž2 119/19 od 04.04.2019. godine, odbijena je kao neosnovana žalba tužilјe-protivtužene i potvrđena presuda Osnovnog suda u Jagodini P2 411/17 od 24.12.2018.


Ceneći navode revizije, Vrhovni kasacioni sud nalazi da su nižestepeni sudovi na potpuno utvrđeno činjenično stanje, pravilno primenili materijalno pravo, a pri čemu su se shodno citiranim propisima prevashodno rukovodili interesima maloletnog deteta, pravilno ocenjujući da je u interesu deteta da za sada ostane u domaćinstvu kod oca, tj. da se vršenje roditelјskog prava nad maloletnim poveri njegovom ocu a da majka ima pravo viđanja sa detetom, budući da je otac ostvario bolju emocionalnu povezanost sa detetom.

Presuda je dostupna u javnoj bazi sudske prakse ovde
Član 8 | DIC | Tomić protiv Srbije
Presuda je povezana sa presudom Vrhovnog kasacionog suda Rev 2999/1999 od 4.9.2019. godine, kojom se odbija kao nesosnovana revizija tužilje-protivtužene, izjevljena protiv presude Apelacionog suda u Kragujevcu Gž2 119/19 od 04.04.2019. godine.

Prema utvrđenom činjeničnom stanju, tužilјa i tuženi su zaklјučili brak 06.05.2012. godine iz kog braka imaju maloletnog sina. Živeli su u kući u zajednici sa majkom i babom tuženog. Do prestanka bračne zajednice došlo je 04.09.2017. godine, kada je tužilјa napustila bračnu zajednicu. Bračni odnosi su ozbilјno i trajno poremećeni, nema izgleda da se bračna zajednica nastavi. Tužilјa, kada je napustila bračnu zajednicu prijavila je policiji tuženog za nasilјe u porodici. Navela je da je poslednje dve godine u braku bila u svađi sa tuženim, stalno su se raspravlјali, a tuženi je držao za ruke i drmao zbog čega su joj ostajale modrice, kao i da je dete često prisustvovalo ovim svađama. Po napuštanju zajednice otišla je da živi kod svojih roditelјa. Navodi tužilјe u pogledu vršenja nasilјa u porodici nisu ničim bili potkreplјeni. Presudom Osnovnog suda u Jagodini P2 411/17 od 24.12.2018. godine u stavu prvom izreke, brak zaklјučen dana 06.05.2014. je razveden na osnovu člana 41. Porodičnog zakona. U stavu drugom izreke, usvojen je tužbeni zahtev tuženog-protivtužioca pa je zajedničko maloletno dete stranaka sin poveren ocu koji će samostalno vršiti roditelјsko pravo. Obavezana je tužena-protivtužilјa da na ime svog doprinosa u izdržavanju deteta plaća mesečno određeni novčani iznos. Presudom je uređen je način održavanja ličnih odnosa detat sa majkom. Presudom Apelacionog suda u Kragujevcu Gž2 119/19 od 04.04.2019. godine, odbijena je kao neosnovana žalba tužilјe-protivtužene i potvrđena presuda Osnovnog suda u Jagodini P2 411/17 od 24.12.2018.


Ceneći navode revizije, Vrhovni kasacioni sud nalazi da su nižestepeni sudovi na potpuno utvrđeno činjenično stanje, pravilno primenili materijalno pravo, a pri čemu su se shodno citiranim propisima prevashodno rukovodili interesima maloletnog deteta, pravilno ocenjujući da je u interesu deteta da za sada ostane u domaćinstvu kod oca, tj. da se vršenje roditelјskog prava nad maloletnim poveri njegovom ocu a da majka ima pravo viđanja sa detetom, budući da je otac ostvario bolju emocionalnu povezanost sa detetom.

Presuda je dostupna u javnoj bazi sudske prakse ovde
Član 10 | DIC | Medžlis Islamske Zajednice Brčko i drugi protiv Bosne i Hercegovine
Predmet prosledjen Velikom veću. Odluka doneta 2017. godine