Constitutional recognition of freedom of conscience: development guidelines

Abstract

The paper explores the constitutional legislation of Ukraine regarding the legal
status of religious associations, formulating proposals for its improvement in
accordance with international legal standards.
The legal status of religious associations and their correlation within and with
the state are bound to the recognition and implementation of freedom of conscience.
While consolidating the principle of freedom of conscience constitutions of modern
democracies do not define the scope of this principle’s legal regulation. Thus creating
artificial complications when defining the substance of the legal status of religious
associations, built on the foundation that is freedom of religion. Therefore, the
designation of ways and approaches to the constitutional regulation of freedom of
conscience and association are both theoretically and practically important research
directions in the theory of law.
The article focuses on the analysis of methodological development principles
of national constitutional law on religious associations. The author reveals the
constitutional model of church-state relations in Ukraine, which is a prerequisite to
the analysis of the current state of constitutional recognition of freedom of conscience
and the right of association in Ukraine. The author also dwells on the issue of
establishing legal grounds for the restriction of freedom of religion, and the analysis
of Ukrainian citizens’ complications when exercising the right of alternative service
for religious or other reasons.
As an outcome of the research, the author defines and analyzes the main
approaches to the improvement of the constitutional legislation of Ukraine in terms of
regulation of freedom of conscience and activity of religious associations in
accordance with European legal standards.