Die Religionsfreiheit juristischer Personen im Sinne des Art. 19 Abs. 3 GG

According to the case law of the German Federal Constitutional Court, only religious communities and such legal entities whose purpose is the cultivation or promotion of a religious confession or the proclamation of the faith of their members can invoke the freedom of religion pursuant to Art. 4 sec. 1 and 2 of the constitution. However, recent developments, namely the so-called Hobby-Lobby-Case decided by the US Supreme Court where for the first time a for-profit corporation was granted the right to invoke freedom of religion, give rise to examine whether this case law can be the last word with regard to the freedom of religion of legal persons.
On the basis of this development and fundamental considerations on the grounds and limits of the right of legal persons to invoke constitutional rights, the study develops general criteria for prerequisites under which for-profit corporations can invoke the constitutional right to freedom of religion.