4.  The second applicant was born in 1957 and lives in Prilep.
5.  On 8 November 2008 seven persons, including the second applicant, founded the applicant association. The founding members adopted several documents concerning the applicant association, including its Charter, the relevant parts of which read as follows:
Article 1
“The Church of Real Orthodox Christians of Macedonia [hereinafter “the Church”] is a voluntary association of individuals, who exercise, through their religious beliefs and doctrinal sources, the freedom of religion ... through preaching; prayer; religious rituals; and other forms of expression.”
Article 3
“The seat of the [applicant association] is [the street name].”
Article 8
“The aims of the Church are the following:
...
-  to promote, stimulate and educate the members about the spiritual life and development;
-  to hold and organise religious education; educative religious discussions and lectures; public religious debates; visits to monasteries ... to hold preaching sessions; prayer meetings ... and other orthodox rituals;
-  to organise humanitarian funds and actions for the well-being and support of people;
-  to take care and support all who are in a need of help ...;
...
-  to inform the orthodox followers about religious holidays and culture;
-  to publish bulletins, material, publications, books and advertising material with orthodox content;
-  to organise and hold joint meetings, rituals and other religious activities with other orthodox churches in the State and abroad with whom the Church is in union.”
...”
Article 9
“As part of its activity, the Church will publish literature with orthodox content and establish funds, in particular, for:
-  publication of bulletins and periodicals ...;
-  publication of chronicles concerning the work of the members;
-  publication of books;
-  creation of funds for financial aid.”
Article 11
“The publication and humanitarian activity of the Church, as well as the funds that it will establish, shall be financed by:
-  sponsors;
-  donations;
-  contributions;
-  funds gained by its own economic activities.”
Article 27
“The Church will be financed by:
-  economic activities;
-  sponsorship;
-  donations;
-  voluntary contributions and funds, and so forth.”
6.  On 26 November 2008 the Ministry of Justice granted permission to the applicant association to use the word “Macedonia” in the name.
7.  On 3 December 2008 the second applicant, acting as an authorised representative of the applicant association, submitted an application for its registration as a religious association. As stated in the application, it appended, inter alia, evidence that its founding members were Macedonian nationals. By a letter of 19 December 2008, the Skopje Court of First Instance (“the Registration Court”) acknowledged receipt of all appended documents and requested that the applicants complete the application by specifying the organisational form under which the applicant association sought registration. On 5 January 2009 the applicants replied that the applicant association sought registration as a church.
8.  On 6 March 2009 the Registration Court rejected the application as incomplete. Whereas it confirmed that nationality documentation was in the file, the court held that it was unable to establish whether the application for registration had been submitted in good time. That decision was quashed on appeal by the Skopje Court of Appeal, which found no reasons why the Registration Court had not sought that the applicants complete the application in that respect by its request of 19 December 2008.
9.  On 10 May 2010 the Registration Court dismissed “the application of the applicant association” for registration, finding that it had requested registration as a religious entity under the Legal Status of Churches, Religious Communities and Religious Groups Act (“the 2007 Act”) only for formal reasons, while in practice it would operate as an association of citizens to which the Association of Citizens and Foundations Act applied. In this connection, the court held that: (a) the text of Article 1 of the Charter was not identical to the text of section 2 of the 2007 Act; (b) Articles 9 and 10 of the Charter specified that the applicant association would publish literature with religious content and would create funds, which, according to the court, was contrary to the aims specified in section 2 of the 2007 Act. In this connection it was noted that Articles 11 and 27 of the Charter specified that the applicant association would be financed, inter alia, by economic activities (стопанска дејност), which was contrary to sections 30-33 of the 2007 Act; (c) there was no evidence that the founding members and the second applicant were Macedonian nationals; and (d) despite the fact that the founding members had adopted the required documents for registration of the applicant association, they had not discussed the issues specified in section 13(1)(2-6) of the 2007 Act.
10.  Referring to sections 7 and 8 of the 2007 Act, the court also found that:
“The registration of the voluntary association of physical persons under the name ‘Church of Real Orthodox Christians of Macedonia’ ... would violate the freedom of religion ... of all physical persons-believers who exercise the[ir] freedom of religion through already registered religious communities and, in particular, the lawful legal status of other registered voluntary associations of physical persons ... and their managing bodies; hierarchy; their competence; titles; religious activity and everything that is regulated by their rules ...
... the free manifestation of religion cannot endanger ... human rights and freedoms of others ...”
11.  The second applicant lodged an appeal with the Skopje Court of Appeal in which he complained on behalf of the applicant association that the reasons given by the Registration Court were unclear and contradictory. In this connection he argued, inter alia, that he had submitted copies of nationality documentation for the founding members; that section 31 of the 2007 Act provided that religious entities could publish relevant literature; that the sources of income provided for in the Charter corresponded to those set forth in the 2007 Act; and that the Registration Court had not explained how and why the registration of the applicant association would affect the religious beliefs and managing bodies of other registered religious communities.
12.  On 16 December 2010 the Skopje Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision, finding that the reasoning contained therein was clear and consistent. It held that Article 11 of the Charter provided that the applicant association would be financed from funds obtained from economic activities, which implied that it would be for-profit, contrary to section 33(2) of the 2007 Act. Furthermore, the permission granted by the Ministry of Justice of 26 November 2008 (see paragraph 6 above) concerned “the Church of Real Orthodox Christians” and not “the Church of Real Orthodox Christians of Macedonia”. Lastly, it established that there was no evidence in the case file regarding the nationality of the founding members and the second applicant. The court did not address the remaining complaints.