The Social Justice Center has won an important court dispute concerning the funding of Marneuli Diocese from the local municipal budget. Partnering with Samira Bairamova, a local activist, and the Supreme Spiritual Department of All Muslims of Georgia, the Social Justice Center has been challenging the case before the court since 2019. The court ruled a norm of the resolution endorsed by Marneuli city council which allowed the allocation of 40.000 from the local budget to Marneuli and Hujabi Diocese as discriminatory.

The analysis of the practice of the past few years suggests that the local municipality has allocated money earmarked for supporting religious activities predominantly to the local diocese even though Azerbaijani communities account for an overwhelming 83% of the population of the municipality which also is home to ethnic Armenian communities, Georgian Muslim ecomigrants and other religious minorities.

The work that our organization has been undertaking in the Kvemo Kartli region suggests that communities residing in rural parts of Marneuli municipality has no access to basic social infrastructure and services such as potable water, the lack of which affects the majority of the villages, irrigation water networks, preschool education facilities, cultural establishments, libraries, sustainable social and support services. Against this backdrop, it is critical that the municipal authorities allocate available resources for executing their basic powers and meeting dire social needs.

Routinely allocating large sums of money to a single religious organization in the region predominantly populated by ethic minority communities creates a practice of inequality and might fuel up alienating social effect for non-dominant ethnic groups residing in the municipality.

Actions undertaken by municipal authorities with regard to allocating budgetary resources contradicts constitutional and non-discriminatry understanding of freedom of religion and equality, requirements of Article 11 of the Constitution of Georgia, and the law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. The will of the municipality to fund only the Orthodox Church manifested in the disputed norm, violates the constitutional order regulating the relationship between the Church and the State, and the principle of secular governance.

The court has found that there was no rational link between the norm and the legitimate aim. It only encouraged differential treatment on the ground of religion without sufficient impartial and reasonable justification.

Today’s ruling sets an important precedent for reaffirming the importance of spending local budgetary resources for public good and affairs, free from discriminatory approach. The decision demonstrates that under no circumstances should state/local self-government be perceived as associated with certain religious groups and by doing so, violate inclusivity and neutrality of a democratic state. Freedom of religion and faith cannot be protected under circumstances whereby municipal authorities decide to channel public financial resources in support of a single religion and by doing so, underscore the privilege of one religion over others.

We hope that Marneuli municipal authorities as well as others in the country will internalize social implication of this dispute, and its impact on the situation with regard to the human rights, therefore, timely amend discriminatory and unfair practice, and made budgetary allocation process focused to human rights and social interests.

After sharing a full text of the ruling, the Social Justice Center will offer the readers its detailed analysis.

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