Correlate theory
The correlate theory was a jurisprudential theory that was advocated at the time of the Weimar Republic . They served to the constitutionality of a state legal supervision over public religious and philosophical communities to establish. The correlate theory, and with it the state legal supervision, is predominantly rejected today as a violation of the constitutional requirement of the separation of state and church .
Historical background
In the course of the Reformation , the Protestant princes were appointed as emergency bishops in Germany . This country Magnificent church government ushered in the Protestant regional churches to a foreign regulation by the state: The Prince practiced as Bishop of "his" church iura in sacra , that is the internal church management rights from.
The Roman Catholic dioceses had no formal connection with the state after the secularization of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803 . Due to the excessive application of the iura circa sacra , i.e. the external state supervision of the sovereign, the Catholic bishoprics were ultimately determined by the state in a similar way to the Protestant regional churches (see also there on the development of German state church law ).
Regulations of the Weimar Constitution
When the Weimar Constitution (WRV) came into force in 1919, the question of the constitutionality of the numerous legal norms that continued to apply that restricted religious communities in their independence arose. After the end of the sovereign church regiment, new regulations of this kind were issued.
In Art. 137, Paragraph 1, the constitution stipulated "There is no state church." ( Separation of state and church ), in paragraph 3 "Each religious society organizes and manages its affairs independently within the limits of the law applicable to all." ( Church self-determination ). According to Art. 140 of the Basic Law , these articles are still valid today as a full part of the constitution.
Course of reasoning
In this situation, correlate theory tried to justify why state supervision of religious communities under public law was not a violation of the principle of separation and the right to self-determination.
To this end, she resorted to Art. 137 (5) WRV: "The religious societies remain corporations under public law as far as they have been such until now." With this special public-law status, the so-called " corporate status ", a state legal supervision over the religious community correlates .
The correlate theory thus draws a parallel to the legal supervision of self-governing bodies . There it is recognized that the state may not circumvent the legal obligation of the administration ( primacy of the law ) by setting up legally independent bodies to exercise state sovereignty. If he does this, as is often the case ( municipalities , districts , chambers ), he must ensure that the self-governing bodies themselves comply with the applicable laws. This is done by the institute of legal supervision.
Unconstitutionality of Theory
The equation of state self-governing bodies with religious communities did not take into account the changed constitutional situation. In particular, it is still incompatible with the Basic Law today. Because the religious communities do not become part of the state administration by acquiring the corporate status, not even the state self-administration. That would be a violation of the principle of the separation of church and state. Religious communities under public law are also part of society and, like other social organizations, can invoke basic rights, i.e. they are entitled to basic rights and not, like the state, addressees of basic rights. Therefore, their right to self- determination is not a right of self- administration , the corporate status is of its own kind ("sui generis").
Finally, the legal obligation according to Article 20.3 of the Basic Law does not apply to religious communities, so that this could not be secured by legal supervision: "Legislation is subject to the constitutional order, executive power and jurisdiction are bound by law and justice. " - Religious communities as non-governmental organizations are not mentioned here. This does not mean that religious communities do not have to obey laws. On the contrary, like all other citizens or their associations, they are subject to the sanctions that the legal system provides in the event of a violation of the law. A legal binding for its own sake, as it is given to the state in Art. 20 Abs. 3 GG, is not connected with it. Just as with other social groups, there can therefore be no legal supervision over them.
The correlate theory consequently failed because of an inappropriateness of equating non-state religious communities with state self-governing bodies; The cause was the misunderstanding of the special corporate status and the nature of the right to self-determination .
