Zur Vereinbarkeit der Anerkennungsrichtlinie mit den stiftungsrechtlichen Vorgaben zur Vermögensverwaltung bei kirchlichen Anstaltsträgerstiftungen

The Protestant Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland - EKD) has recently adopted a regulatory framework for administering benefits to those who have experienced sexualised violence within the Protestant Church itself or its social welfare organisation (Diakonie). In adopting this so-called Recognition Framework (Anerkennungsrichtlinie), however, no consideration was given to whether the benefits scheme is compatible with the law governing legal persons under state law. Indeed, for private law foundations, such an assessment would have revealed that the Recognition Framework - in explicitly focusing on affected persons and allocating decision-making power to bodies external to the respective foundations, i. e. so-called Recognition Commissions (Anerkennungskommissionen) - violates provisions of the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch - BGB) governing private law foundations, which are also binding upon churches.