Inna Zagrebina

From Ignorance to Alleged Extremism: the Problems of Religious Expertise in Russia

Inna Zagrebina - Lawyer; Chairman of Board, Guild of Experts on Religion and Law; Editor-in-Chief of the Journal "Juridical Studies in Religion", innasclj@yandex.ru

The problem of religious expertise in the questions concerning the supposed extremism of some materials is very topical in today's Russia. Despite the fact that this type of expertise is gaining more and more importance, religious expertise is still lacking theoretical foundations and till nowadays remains beyond the scope of scientific research. Still unexplored are the questions of conditions and special methods of such expertise, the subject of expertise, the status of expert during expertise, the limits of application of special knowledge and so on.

Keywords: extremism, religious discrimination, freedom of conscience and freedom of belief, religious expertise, expert, findings of religious expertise.

The TERRITORY of the Russian Federation has historically been home to many peoples with their own traditions and beliefs, and, as a result, the religious factor has always had a noticeable impact on social processes. The existence of numerous religious associations requires legal support for their functioning and coordination of interests in order to prevent illegal actions. As elsewhere in the world, Russia faces an acute dilemma about the relationship between freedom of religion and its legal restrictions.,

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what actions related to religious expression should be considered "illegal" or"extremist"?

In such terms, the Institute of religious studies expertise is one of the necessary means of regulating relations between the state and religious organizations in Russia; conducting such religious studies examinations for the recognition of materials as extremist is a central problem. We will address this problem after considering a few concrete examples.

A few examples from Russian judicial practice

Example one. On June 7, 2010, the Lublin Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Administrative District filed a motion with the Lublin District Court declaring the information materials extremist. It noted that the prosecutor's office conducted an inspection of the Antireligia group on the Vkontakte website. <url> " based on the appeal of citizen I. V. Lebedev, a resident of St. Petersburg, who reported that various anti-religious images insulting the Orthodox and Muslim faith were posted on the Internet. The third person identified was the administrator of the Antireligia group, a resident of Moscow, N.

The Prosecutor's Office sent the materials for verification to the Center for Countering Extremism of the Moscow Police Department, which randomly selected seven images obtained from the photo albums of the Antireligia group.

Then the Russian Institute of Cultural Studies, at the request of the prosecutor's office, conducted a comprehensive study of the submitted images of anti-religious orientation (with the expert being a mathematics teacher who defended her dissertation on modeling mathematical problems in primary school classes), according to the results of which it was recognized that only the image of a girl in a T-shirt with the slogan "Orthodoxy or death! "in the Russian and Greek languages and symbols in the form of Orthodox crosses, three skulls with daggers in their teeth, the letters "G" and " A "and the abbreviation" SPH "is"material containing propaganda of exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens on the basis of their attitude to religion."

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The case was transferred to the Lublin Court of Moscow. It should be particularly noted that in most cases the court receives an expert opinion conducted out of court. Meanwhile, such a study cannot be recognized as an expert examination, since it was not appointed during the trial with the provision of all procedural rights to the interested party (the expert was not warned about the responsibility for giving deliberately false information, expert candidates for the examination were not considered, etc.). However, practice shows that courts often accept such conclusions as evidence and sometimes as the only ones.

The absurdity of the above situation was as follows. In early January 2011, the Cheryomushkinsky District Court of Moscow recognized the slogan "Orthodoxy or death! "extremist, despite the fact that the Lyublinsky District Court of Moscow at that time was still considering a similar case and knew absolutely nothing about the decision of the Cheryomushkinsky district Court.

As a result, on April 20, 2011, the Lublin District Court refused to grant the request of the Lublin Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office for recognition of a T-shirt with the inscription "Orthodoxy or death! "and with the image of Orthodox symbols extremist material. Thus, two courts on the territory of one subject of the Russian Federation on the same subject of judicial proceedings came to absolutely opposite conclusions.

At the same time, the Cheryomushkinsky District Court was guided in making its decision by the out-of-court opinion of specialist 1, and the Lublin Court-by a comprehensive examination conducted by the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise (RFCSE).

Example two. The Gaysky interdistrict prosecutor of the Orenburg region, S. V. Chelyshev, initiated the filing of an application to the Gaysky City Court for recognition as extremist materials of a number of Muslim theological works, including the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad, the works of the famous Tatar theologian of the XVIII century Utyz-Imyani,

1. In accordance with clause 3 of Article 80 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation: A specialist's opinion is a written opinion on the issues put to the specialist by the parties.

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the publication "Salvation in Prayer", authored by the rector of the Moscow Islamic University Marat Murtazin, as well as the book "Namaz through the prism of Reflection" by the Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of the European Part of Russia Mustafa Kyutyukciu, and others. In the case file there was a copy of the Act of natural and humanitarian forensic examination based on the materials of the criminal case N547 / 1 " conducted by expert N. N. Islanova.

According to this examination, the above-mentioned books were classified as extremist. However, none of the signs provided for in Article 1 of Federal Law No. 114-FZ of July 25, 2002 "On Countering extremist activities" was given. In addition, in violation of Article 24 of Federal Law No. 73-FZ of May 31, 2001 "On State Forensic expert activity", the act omitted the following information: the time and place of the forensic examination; information about the state forensic expert institution, evaluation of research results, justification and formulation of conclusions on the issues raised in part research of books of interest to us.

In the research part, the expert pointed out that "the texts of the materials show signs of using methods of suggestive psychological influence, but they are selective in nature and are aimed at enhancing the memorization effect", that is, the materials did not have a single sign provided for in Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Countering Extremist Activities", and this trend can be traced throughout the research parts of the report that describe other books, their content, and how they are assigned to certain groups based on criteria.

In addition, nowhere in the research part of the act is an analysis given and, accordingly, the method used to analyze the content of books ("Salvation in prayer", "Prayer through the prism of reflection"), and therefore, it is not known on what basis the expert classified these books as extremist, since none of the signs provided for in Article 1 the specified law is omitted.

As a result, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia and Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European part of Russia, was forced to appeal on behalf of all Muslims of Russia to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yu. Ya. Chaika with a request to assist

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and take the necessary measures to prevent such an attitude to spiritual and religious literature.

Example three. In August 2011 - March 2012, a special trial was held in Tomsk to recognize the main canonical text of the Hare Krishnas, Bhagavad-gita as It Is, as extremist material - the only widely distributed Russian-language edition of the sacred Hindu text Bhagavad-Gita, which gained worldwide resonance, causing widespread protests by politicians and the public India and criticism in Russia.

This example has shown that today none of the most authoritative ancient sacred texts are legally protected. The oldest texts, whose history spans many centuries, and texts written very recently, are analyzed on the same grounds, although it is obvious that a relatively new text should be considered in a special way, taking into account the time and place of its writing.

During the consideration of the case, the court decided to question the "experts" who signed the conclusion that formed the basis of the prosecutor's statement. One of the reasons for the experts ' questioning was that the expert report included quotations that were generally absent from both the commentaries and the original texts of the Bhagavad-gita.

As a result of judicial questioning, it was found out that one of the "experts" who signed the report, Professor of Philosophy at Tomsk University S. S. Avanesov, did not conduct the study itself, but only organized it, and the analysis itself was carried out by Professors Valery Svistunov and Valery Naumov2. V. Svistunov, who was questioned by the court, said that S. Avanesov suggested that he do a philosophical study, not a forensic examination, that the tasks before him were unclear, that he had not read this book before, and when drawing up the conclusion, he used information from anti-sexist sites, that his research was his subjective opinion. The third expert, V. Naumov, said that he conducted "just a study", and not a forensic examination. Naumov noted that he did not know who the customers of the work were, and that "the book and the sheet with questions (not on letterhead, without signatures or seals) were given to him by the laboratory assistant of the department." He also claimed that he had used a "component" during the examination.-

2. Scholars have failed to prove the existence of extremism in the Bhagavad-gita as it stands. Globalsib.com. August 19, 2011. http://globalsib.com/11485/ [accessed from 28.02.2013].

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In this case, it is called" semantic analysis", where the context is not taken into account, and the text is decomposed into minimal semantic units - that is, the meaning of words is explained simply by dictionaries. When representatives of the defense pointed out to the court that this method is not generally recognized, the expert agreed with this. During the interrogation, the judge pointed out to the expert a number of places in his expert opinion where the cited quotations were absent on the pages indicated by him in Book 3.

Examination status and requirements for experts: analysis of existing problems

In connection with these examples, first of all, the importance of the issue of professional training of experts is revealed. It is no exaggeration to say that the professional training of experts depends on the scientific validity and objectivity of the research results.

It should also be noted that the theoretical development in the legal doctrine of the Russian Federation of the Institute of Expertise received only in terms of forensic expertise. Out-of-court expertise is practically not studied. This leads to legal conflicts in the legislation of the Russian Federation and controversial situations in legal practice.

For example, the legal status of a forensic expert is stipulated in Article 13 of the Federal Law "On State Forensic Expert Activity in the Russian Federation", according to which the position of an expert in state forensic expert institutions can be held by a citizen of the Russian Federation who has a higher professional education and has completed subsequent training in a specific expert specialty in accordance with legal acts of the relevant federal executive authorities. The position of an expert in the expert divisions of the federal executive authority in the field of internal affairs may also be held by a citizen of the Russian Federation who has a secondary specialized expert education.

3. The Bhagavad-Gita affair//Forbidden art, gon. http://artprotest.org/index.php?option=com_contentSmew=articleSrid=2838&chtoto=2011-& catid=4&2011-03-04-14-58-14=&Itemid=4&ordering2=4 [доступ от 28.02.2013].

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Expert qualification commissions determine the level of professional training of experts and certify them for the right to independently conduct a forensic examination in accordance with the procedure established by regulatory legal acts of the relevant federal executive authorities. The level of professional training of experts is subject to review by these commissions every five years.

Meanwhile, the legal status of a research expert conducted out of court (for example, at the request of the prosecutor's office) is not defined at all in the legislation.

Let's turn to the very concept of "expert". In science, including the humanities, an expert is often referred to as any informant who is asked for advice or judgment on a particular issue, or who voluntarily expresses his opinion on a publicly formulated issue (for example, in the Internet space). So, for example, in sociology, this is called the " expert assessment method "and implies something that actually expands the concept of"expert" indefinitely. This can, in particular, lead to confusion between the concepts of "expertise" and "representative survey", while the difference between these concepts in relation to the personality of the interviewee is extremely large: in expert activity, the respondent is a carrier of special knowledge, which implies the presence of professional education and certain professional experience, and in surveys, respondents are most often random people, and the result of the survey is a representative opinion, the product of a comprehensive assessment of opinions. Thus, expert opinion is considered to be objective, deeper and more voluminous than the opinion of the average informant4.

Researchers D. A. Leontiev and G. V. Ivanchenko believe that in the special Russian literature of recent years, the figure of an expert takes on an almost sacred character. As an example, a quote from the book "Methodology of design expertise: From the experience of an expert" by V. N. Yarskaya is given: "An expert is a good analyst, a genuine research scientist, a brilliant administrator"...> skilful and wise appraiser, expert in the right field, specialist in the defined and scientific pro-

Leontiev D. A., Ivanchenko G. V. 4. Complex humanitarian expertise: Methodology and Meaning, Moscow: Smysl, 2008, p. 33.

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a true ace among related professionals"5. According to Leontiev and Ivanchenko, in the Russian consciousness, an expert is superior to a professional.6 Specialized dictionaries on expert activity indicate several main features that make it possible to consider a person an expert. These are, first of all, the length of professional activity, the complexity of professional activity, the versatility of professional activity and its success. The expert must be competent in his subject area, and his area of competence should be close to the object of expertise, although it does not have to be exactly the one in which the question is asked. Of course, higher education of an expert (in this case, religious studies) is mandatory, and confirmation of qualification with a PhD or higher degree and experience in conducting interdisciplinary research are desirable.

For example, it is certainly desirable to involve a specialist in Protestantism in the process of examining cases related to a Protestant religious organization, or a specialist in new religious movements to examine cases related, for example, to the Jehovah's Witnesses organization. The narrow specialization of a scientist implies that he has more specialized knowledge necessary for this particular expert research.

Nevertheless, not every person, even a highly qualified specialist, is capable of making the necessary generalizations, clarifications, concretisations, and correct construction of cause-and-effect relationships. One of the main tasks in this sense is to organize the expert's thinking, and for this it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the subject that is subject to examination. Religious studies, like any other humanitarian science, has a number of features that a specialist in religion must understand.

For example, a specialist in religious studies knows that the consciousness of a believer is prone to suggestion - an uncritical perception of one's own ideas as true; this is typical for the vast majority of religious traditions. "Suggestion-

Yarskaya V. N. 5. Methodology of designing expertise: From the experience of an expert//Modern Russian society. Saratov: Publishing House of the Saratov Medical University. univ., 2003, p. 8.

Leontiev D. A., Ivanchenko G. V. 6. Complex humanitarian expertise: Methodology and Meaning, Moscow: Smysl, 2008, p. 37.

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the" religious component " in religious texts is dominant in relation to the informational one for psychological reasons: it is psychologically difficult for a believer to refrain from saying that his faith is true or right, and other beliefs are not right or true.

If the expert examination is conducted without the participation of a religious scholar, often statements about the "wrongness" of other religions are perceived by experts as incitement to hatred and hostility, as well as propaganda of religious superiority, which in practice leads to lawsuits declaring these texts extremist. For example, in the text of an expert opinion on the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses conducted in 2000, experts compare the emotional atmosphere of religious texts (for example, articles from the Watchtower magazine). with an emotional atmosphere of commercial or political advertising and service regulations. Here is a quote: "In comparison with advertising, [in the texts of Jehovah's Witnesses] the tone of fatalistic doom of a person in the face of universal evil is increased; in comparison with official regulations, the level of fear inspired by possible non-compliance with instructions is increased."7
This approach will cause confusion to any religious scholar, but this comprehensive examination was conducted by two philologists, a psychologist and a historian, and in its provisions is quite typical among other similar examinations. Not having the necessary special religious studies knowledge due to the specifics of their education, experts resort to such means as, for example, comparing an unknown religious organization with a well-known one, for example, the Russian Orthodox Church. Here's another quote: "Among the public institutions rejected by Jehovah's Witnesses is the Christian Church, which, in the person of Orthodoxy, the Russian Federal Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations <...> recognizes a special historically creative role"8. Or such a quote: "A discipline that, according to the texts of the community, requires peremptory obedience and attention

7. Comprehensive expert opinion on the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses in the civil case 2-452/99 (Golovinsky Inter-Municipal Court of the CAO of Moscow), Moscow, October 4, 2000.

8. Ibid., p. 95

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monitoring the fulfillment of normalized obligations, etc., is also not typical for traditional (according to public perceptions, legal awareness, science, and federal law) religions"9. Experts do not find a better way out than to simply take what is already "allowed" and compare the subject of their research with it. This approach can be considered neither scientific nor legally legitimate.

An expert taking part in a comprehensive religious studies examination is required to be able to draw conclusions in a broader context than is traditionally accepted in the scientific community. Based on this, it would be appropriate for the expert to receive appropriate training, after which a special certificate would be issued. A similar practice exists in forensic Centers; for example, in the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise (RFCSE), certification is carried out by specialized laboratories within the Forensic Center; linguistic experts are trained in the linguistic laboratory, expert psychologists are trained in the psychology laboratory, and so on. At the end of the internship, a certificate is issued, which requires confirmation by passing the certification every 3-5 years.

Despite the fact that religious expertise is the most important aspect in the field of state-confessional relations, there is simply no training of a religious expert. Therefore, for the time being, experts are religious scholars who have not passed expert certification and do not have the appropriate certificate, which, of course, does not contribute to the successful development of the practice of conducting religious studies expertise.

Moreover, at the moment there is not a single religious studies laboratory in the Russian centers of forensic expertise, which creates certain difficulties in conducting expert examinations on such texts.

Medical and psychiatric examinations are required to strictly comply with certain methodological standards. In religious studies expertise, as a rule, a specialist is used only as a polymath in the relevant field.10 At the same time,

9. Ibid., p. 97

Tikhonravov Yu. V. About 10. Methods of religious studies expertise. // Religion and Law. 1999. N 2. P. 25.

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since there are no legal requirements for an expert in religious studies, this type of expertise is carried out by people who do not have an academic degree or scientific works on this topic, but sometimes even higher education.

In this regard, in our opinion, when determining the legal status of an expert in religious studies expertise, it is necessary to establish mandatory legislation on the educational qualification and the level of professional training. It seems necessary to legislate the following detailed list of requirements for experts:

1) a specialist who has a higher secular education in scientific religious studies and an academic degree, has at least 5 years of work experience in the specialty, and has scientific and (or) practical knowledge on the issue under consideration in the relevant areas of science must act as an expert in conducting a religious expert examination;

2.) a clergyman, a representative of any denomination, or a citizen who is in an employment or other contractual relationship with any religious organization may not act as an expert.

The issue of specifying the requirements for the content of religious studies expertise and the procedure for conducting it also remains relevant. It is necessary to pay attention to the following: paragraph 23 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 11 of June 28, 2008 "On judicial practice in criminal cases of extremist crimes" contains a direct ban on raising legal issues related to the assessment of an act that are not within the expert's competence, namely: when conducting forensic examinations in cases of extremist crimes, it is not allowed to raise legal issues related to the assessment of an act that are not within the expert's competence, the resolution of which falls within the exclusive competence of the court. In particular, experts cannot be asked whether the text contains calls for extremist activity, whether informational materials are aimed at inciting hatred or enmity." However, despite this direct ban, to this day, in practice, these questions continue to be raised before experts and specialists, both when appointing forensic examinations and when conducting non-judicial research.

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In this regard, it is necessary to specify in detail the following requirements in the current legislation::

1) the requirement to provide information about experts - surname, first name, patronymic, education, specialty, academic degree and title, experience of expert activity;

2) requirements for the sequence and stages of conducting a religious studies expert examination;

3) requirements for the scientific tools used; mandatory indication of scientific methods;

4) requirements for the terminology used;

5) differentiation of issues within the framework of religious studies expertise based on the subject-professional principle.

The conclusion of a religious studies expert examination should be based on a complete, comprehensive and objective study of the objects of expertise, therefore, the conclusions made by experts should be justified in the course of expert work.

Meanwhile, there is no provision for any liability of a specialist in the framework of conducting an out-of-court expert examination for the groundlessness and falsification of the conclusions of the conclusion of a religious studies expert examination, which, in the author's opinion, is a significant gap in the legislation.

The fundamental principles of any expertise, including religious studies, are the principle of independence and the principle of objectivity.

The principle of an expert's independence in conducting a religious studies expert examination implies the expert's personal disinterest in the research result. The expert must first of all be neutral in the sense of worldview, tolerant and must be guided in his activities only by scientific knowledge and legal norms regulating this sphere of public relations. Otherwise, the assessment of religious materials during the expert examination, instead of scientific validity, may have a biased, inadequate character, tinged with confessional bias. An important condition for the independence of an expert is the fact that no one has the right to influence the expert in order to persuade him to give a certain conclusion.

The principle of objectivity, in turn, implies the use of objective research methods and tools by the expert, and the complete absence of subjectivism in the formation of the expert's opinion.

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conclusions based on the results of the study. Any expert research should be conducted strictly on a scientific and / or practical basis that corresponds to the current level of development of a particular field of knowledge 11. Objectivity is an integral element of any expert examination and directly depends on the independence of the examination.

In accordance with this principle, any information contained in the study should be obtained and interpreted by an expert solely through the use of scientifically based and verified methods. To do this, there should be various methods developed by research structures and experts themselves who have extensive experience in specific areas. Currently, there are no methods developed in the field of conducting religious studies examinations, which is a significant gap in conducting this type of examination.

Studying the expert opinions issued by religious experts, it should be noted that recently the categorical apparatus used in expert examination has become particularly important. It should exclude terms that offend religious views and feelings of believers, regardless of their religious affiliation. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the Federal Law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations" introduces such concepts as "religious group", "religious organization", "local religious organization", "centralized religious organization".

The use of the terms "totalitarian sect" or "destructive cult" in religious studies can be regarded as a deviation from objectivity and impartiality - the necessary conditions for an honest and qualified judgment about a religious association.12 It is important to emphasize that the term "sect" does not appear at all in the current legislation. In addition, due to historical practice and Russian cultural tradition, the term "sect" is perceived in Russia less neutrally and tolerantly than, for example, in Europe.

Nesterov A.V. 11. Osnovy ekspertnoy deyatel'nosti [Fundamentals of expert activity], Moscow: Higher School of Economics Publishing House, 2009, p. 22.

Kanterov And 12.. Ya. Expert councils as subjects of confessional policy.// Religion and Law. 2004. N 1. P. 12.

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the term, in fact, has an offensive connotation 13. The Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes under the President of the Russian Federation, in its Decision No. 4 (138) of February 12, 1996, explicitly stated that this term, due to the prevailing ideas in society, undoubtedly carries a negative meaning and, by using it, journalists can offend the feelings of believers.14 Well-known scholars of philology also point out the incorrectness of using the term "sect" in official documents.15 This term is ideological.

The term "destructive cult" cannot reflect the essence of religious phenomena at all. First, history and modernity are known to be quite active religious formations that deny any kind of"cult". Secondly, the attitude of "destruction" is extremely rare in religious life; on the contrary, the greatest social danger is most often associated with the creative attitude, the only question is what is being created.16
The results of the study are also influenced by the inertia of experts ' thinking, a stable habit of ideological comfort, one-dimensional assessments of the diversity of religious formations, their creeds and ritual practices, and organizational forms. These shortcomings are mainly reflected in the assessment of religious beliefs and practices of religious associations through the prism of a single religious tradition, which is taken as a "model" or "standard" of a religious organization. This is most often the Judeo-Christian tradition, which is characterized by the belief in the existence of a Creator God, a personified being, a separate and distinct person, and that prayer to this God is the highest

13. Pchelintsev A.V. Constitutional right of citizens to freedom of religion and problems of its implementation in the Russian Federation. // Freedom of religion and belief: Basic principles. Tore Lindholm, Kol Durham, and Bahiya Tahzib-Li, Moscow: Institute of Religion and Law, Brigham Young University Center for the Study of Religion and Law, UNESCO Shopping Center, 2010, p. 621.

14. Religious associations. Freedom of conscience and religion. Religious studies expertise. Regulatory acts. Judicial practice. Conclusions of experts / Comp. A.V. Pchelintsev, V. V. Ryakhovsky, S. V. Chugunov; under the general editorship of A.V. Pchelintsev. Moscow: Yurispudentsiya, 2009. p. 914; Nesterov A.V. Osnovy ekspertnoy deyatel'nosti. p. 22.

Nikolaev A. A. 15. On the concept of "sect" // Religion and Law, 1999. N 2. p. 23.

16. See: Tikhonravov Yu. V. On the methodology of religious studies expertise.//Religion and law. 1999. N2. P. 25.

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a form of human activity. Based on these criteria, some religious scholars do not consider those organizations that do not meet these criteria to be" religious " 17.

Case law of the European Court of Human Rights

Meanwhile, the unprofessional level of expert research and incompetence of district court judges in these matters can lead not only to discredit of Russia in the international field, but also lead to numerous complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as the ECHR), which will also not contribute to strengthening the country's prestige. In this regard, special attention should be paid to the practice of the ECHR.

In its judgment in the case of the Religious Community of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow v. The Russian Federation (Complaint No. 302/02) of 10 June 2010, the ECHR specifically recalled its already established jurisprudence that, in accordance with article 9 of the European Convention, freedom of thought, conscience and religion is one of the foundations of a " democratic society"within the meaning of the European Convention. It is this religious parameter that is one of the most important elements that make up the personality of believers and their worldview, but it is also the most valuable asset for atheists, agnostics, skeptics and the indifferent. It is the foundation of pluralism, which is inseparable from a democratic society and has been won at great cost over the centuries (see paragraph 114 of the European Court's judgment in Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Others v. Moldova, application no. 45701 / 99, ECHR 2001-XII).

Religious freedom, being primarily a matter of the individual's conscience, provides inter alia for the freedom to "profess [one's] religion" individually, privately or in community with others, in public or in the circle of believers. Since religious communities traditionally exist as organized structures, it is necessary to interpret article 9 of the European Convention in the light of article I, which provides for-

Expert councils as subjects of confessional politics. // Religion and Law. 2004. N1. P. 12.

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It sees guarantees against unjustified state interference in the activities of associations.

According to the ECtHR's jurisprudence, the State's duty to maintain neutrality and impartiality is incompatible with any of its powers to assess the legitimacy of religious beliefs (see paragraphs 118 and 123 of the above-mentioned Judgment of the European Court in the case "Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia [and Others v. Moldova]" (Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia [and Others v. Moldova]62 of the Judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice in the case of Hasan and Chaush v. Bulgaria [GC] in application No. 30985 / 96, ECHR 2000-XI) 18.
Thus, when conducting religious studies examinations, the expert should clearly know that his competence does not include the assessment of the legitimacy of religious beliefs.

In conclusion, I would like to repeat that the problem of religious studies expertise is undoubtedly relevant. The very multiconfessional nature of Russian society presupposes the existence of various religious organizations, but the goals they declare do not always coincide with real practice. In such terms, the Institute of religious studies expertise is one of the necessary means of regulating relations between the state and religious organizations. On the one hand, a scientifically based, objective religious expertise can be an important factor in preventing religiously motivated extremism and protecting society from the adverse consequences that a particular religious movement may have; on the other hand, it can protect religious organizations from unfounded accusations.

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