Religious Courts in Modern European States

Abstract

The problem of religious courts is underexplored by researchers in the context of secular soci-ety and the state. However, this institution, which facilitates settlement in conflicts, based on religious norms, is retained in Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other religious associations. The purpose of the study is to ana-lyze the system and functioning of religious courts of various faiths in the secular states of modern Europe. The research reveals the reasons for the preservation of religious courts, factors affecting their functioning, a description of their main types and key problems. The author offers a list of measures aimed at reducing the negative aspects in the activities of religious courts. The study was conducted on the basis of a structural-functional approach, when religious courts are analyzed as elements of religious associations with their inher-ent functions designed to meet the needs of religious organizations and groups. Factors affecting the situation with religious courts in a particular state are: Peculiarities of state-confessional relations, status of religious marriage, religious composition of the population. The main reasons for the functioning of religious courts are: The demand for religious norms expressed by a certain part of the population, the need for ethnocultural self-identification, the authority of religious leaders, the inefficiency and high cost of the secular judicial sys-tem. Concrete measures are proposed to solve the problem: Legal education, the integration of migrants, the support of moderate religious leaders and the provision of affordable secular justice.