THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR IN LAWMAKING: CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES, MECHANISMS, AND LIMITS

Abstract

As social relations become increasingly complex and societal value heterogeneity intensifies, the state faces the challenge of acknowledging socially significant worldviews without compromising the principle of secularism or allowing legal criteria to be supplanted by religious doctrines. In this context, the issue of religious organizations’ participation in the lawmaking process of a secular state, along with the permissible limits of religious influence on the content of normative decisions, gains particular urgency and requires comprehensive theoretical and legal research. Purpose: to identify the mechanisms of religious organizations’ influence on lawmaking, to define the boundaries of such influence, and to develop approaches for its legal regulation within a secular state. The primary method employed is the formal-legal analysis of constitutional provisions, legislation on freedom of conscience, and the norms governing the participation of public institutions in the discussion and drafting of legal decisions. Comparative law and institutional methods were used to compare various models of interaction between the state and religious associations, as well as to evaluate religious organizations as participants in public communication.
Results: the findings reveal that the influence of religious organizations and associations on lawmaking is predominantly indirect, manifesting through public discussions, expert opinions, consultative forms of participation, and the shaping of societal value expectations. The article concludes that the legal regulation of this sphere should be based on maintaining the secular nature of the state, the equality of religious associations before the law, a clear distinction between religious and legal norms, and the establishment of transparent procedures for the participation of religious organizations in the discussion of socially significant legislative initiatives