Conscience and association / C1
Founding a religion or association
The person wants to found a new religion, or an association, and hold weekly meetings without registering it.
What we score
Can they operate without the state's permission?
Default assumptions: Unless a vignette says otherwise, the person is a 30-year-old citizen of sound mind with no criminal record, acting alone, on their own behalf and not for profit, in an ordinary residential area. Where subnational units (states, provinces, cantons, Länder) make their own law, each unit is scored and the result is weighted by population. 'The state' includes police, prosecutors, courts, regulators, tax authorities and anyone acting on their orders, including platforms obeying takedown orders.
Score anchors
Both the law score and the practice score use these anchors. Half points are used when a country sits between two of them.
| Score | What it means for this vignette |
|---|---|
| 10 | Yes. Registration is optional and only needed for legal personality. |
| 8 | Notification required. |
| 6 | Registration on objective criteria. |
| 4 | Discretionary registration; unregistered groups face restrictions. |
| 3 | Unregistered activity is fined. |
| 2 | Unregistered activity is a crime. |
| 0 | Groups like it are banned and members imprisoned. |
Evidence used: Association and religion laws; registration rules; banned groups; prosecutions for unregistered activity.
How each country scores
| Country | Law | Practice | Process | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Founding a religion or association and meeting weekly needs no registration or permission (First Amendment free exercise and association). Incorporation is optional and only for legal personality. Even for tax purposes, churches that meet 501(c)(3) requirements are automatically tax exempt and need not apply to the IRS (IRS Publication 1828). |
| Czechia | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Freedom of religion, including private or collective worship, is guaranteed without registration (Churches Act 3/2002 § 2). Registration is needed only for legal personality. Informal associations may meet without registering, and a spolek registers only to gain legal personality. |
| Switzerland | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | An association gains legal personality as soon as written articles show the intention to exist as a body (Civil Code Art. 60); registration is needed only for commercial activity. Religious freedom, including forming communities, is guaranteed (Constitution Art. 15). The only exception is the small number of banned terrorist organisations. |
| Netherlands | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | The Constitution recognises freedom of religion (art. 6) and of association (art. 8), restrictable only by statute for public order. Religious communities and informal associations need no registration or permission; a notarial deed and registration only give full legal capacity. The only restriction is a court ban on organisations whose activity is contrary to public order. |
| Germany | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Art. 9(1) GG gives everyone the right to form associations, and Art. 4 GG protects religious practice. Registration as an 'eingetragener Verein' is optional and needed only for legal personality. The executive can ban an association only if its aims or activities break criminal law or oppose the constitutional order (§ 3 VereinsG), which does not reach a peaceful new religion. |
| United Kingdom | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Religions and unincorporated associations need no registration or permission to exist or meet anywhere in the UK. Registration is needed only for charitable status, and even then not below £5,000 annual income (Charities Act 2011 s30). The only bans are proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000, which does not apply to a peaceful new religion. |
| Denmark | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | Grundloven § 78 gives the right to form associations for any lawful purpose without prior permission, and § 67 the right to worship in community. Registration as a recognised religious community is optional and affects only privileges such as marriage authority and tax benefits. Associations can be dissolved only by court judgment if they use violence (§ 78(2)). |
| New Zealand | 10 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | The Bill of Rights Act protects freedom of religion, its manifestation, and association (ss13, 15, 17). No registration or permission is needed to found a religion or association or to hold meetings. Incorporation as a society or registration as a charity is optional and confers legal personality or tax status. The only banned groups are designated terrorist entities. |
| Ireland | 9.5 | 10 | 0 | 9.8 | Religions and associations need no registration or permission to exist or meet (Constitution Arts 40.6.1 and 44). Registration with the Charities Regulator is mandatory only for a 'charitable organisation', defined in Charities Act 2009 s2 as a trust or body whose constitution requires all its property to be applied to a charitable purpose, so an informal group meeting weekly is not caught. No peaceful religious group is banned. |
| Mexico | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8.0 | Registering a religious association with Gobernación is needed only for legal personality (Ley de Asociaciones Religiosas art. 6). Unregistered groups may worship but lack property and other rights (art. 10). Whoever opens a place of public worship must notify Gobernación within 30 days (art. 24), and worship outside temples needs 15 days' notice (art. 22); private, closed meetings are exempt (art. 23). Secular associations need no permission. |
| Singapore | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.8 | Under the Societies Act, any club or association of 10 or more people must register; unregistered societies are unlawful (s14). Managing one is punished with up to S$10,000 and/or 5 years, and being a member or attending a meeting with up to 3 years; the membership offence is arrestable and non-bailable. The Registrar must refuse groups judged contrary to national interest or public order (s4A(3A)). Small informal groups under 10 are outside the Act. |