Religionsverfassungsrecht

Christian Walter deals with the law pertaining to church and state relations from the perspective of fundamental rights. He looks at the different transformation processes which the systems of separation between church and state in France and the USA are undergoing and compares these to the changes in the German model of cooperation. He shows that inspite of remaining differences on a theoretical level, the approaches are quite similar in their practical legal application. The author begins by comparing the history of the three legal systems, using the central themes of secularization and individualization. With the use of selected examples he shows how the institutional law pertaining to church and state relations is transformed by the application of fundamental rights. The author then studies how this process is reinforced through European and international human rights guarantees. In a final part the author presents the dogmatic consequences of his concept for the German law pertaining to church and state relations.