PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 42967/98) against the Republic of Austria lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) under former Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by an Austrian national, Mr Philemon Löffelmann (“the applicant”), on 9 July 1998.

The applicant was represented by Mr R. Kohlhofer, a lawyer practising in Vienna. The Austrian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr F. Trauttmansdorff, Head of the International Law Department at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

The applicant alleged that he had been discriminated against in the exercise of his rights under Articles 4 and 9 of the Convention on the ground of his religion as he was liable for military or alternative civilian service whereas members of recognised religious societies holding religious functions comparable to his functions were exempted.

The application was transmitted to the Court on 1 November 1998, when Protocol No. 11 to the Convention came into force (Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11).

By a decision of 1 February 2005 the Court declared the application partly admissible.

Neither the applicant nor the Government filed further written observations on the merits (Rule 59 § 1).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1976 and lives in Maissau.

Upon his baptism on 9 July 1994 he became a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Austria, within which he assumed the function of a preacher or “regular pioneer” (Prediger, allgemeiner Pionier) and, since 27 November 1996, a deacon or “ministerial servant” (Diakon, Dienstamtgehilfe). In this function he assisted the clerical work of elders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

On 17 November 1994 the Lower Austrian Military Authority (Militärkommando) found that the applicant was fit to perform military service. On 3 July 1995 the applicant started his military service; however, on 1 August 1995 he was discharged following a military medical expert opinion that had found him unfit for service.

On 28 September 1995 the Lower Austrian Military Authority issued a conscription order (Stellungsbescheid) in respect of the applicant, ordering him to undergo another examination as to his ability to perform military service pursuant to section 24(8) of the Military Service Act (Wehrgesetz), as in force at the relevant time. As to the applicant’s argument that he should be exempted from military service under section 24(3) of the Military Service Act, it noted that the applicant was not a member of a recognised religious society.

The applicant appealed against that order, claiming in particular that he should be dispensed from military service since he performed a function within the Jehovah’s Witnesses which was equivalent to that of members of a recognised religious society who were exempted from military service under section 24(3) of the Military Service Act. To restrict such a privilege to members of recognised religious societies was not objectively justified and was therefore in breach of the Federal Constitution.

On 16 November 1995 the Federal Minister for Defence (Bundesminister für Landesverteidigung) dismissed the applicant’s appeal and confirmed the lower authority’s decision.

On 8 January 1996 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof), requesting it to repeal the wording “recognised religious societies” in section 24(3) of the Military Service Act.

On 1 December 1997 the Constitutional Court refused to deal with the applicant’s complaint for lack of prospects of success. It referred to an earlier decision by which it had found that the obligation to perform military or civilian service raised no concerns as regards compliance with Article 9 of the Convention.

On 26 March 1998 the Administrative Court (Verwaltungs-gerichtshof) dismissed the applicant’s complaint. It noted that the applicant had solely complained about section 24(3) of the Military Service Act in conjunction with the 1998 Act on the Legal Status of Registered Religious Communities (Bundesgesetz über die Rechtspersönlichkeit von religiösen Bekenntnisgemeinschaften – hereafter referred to as the “1998 Act”), which had entered into force on 10 January 1998. However, the Administrative Court had to limit its examination of the legality of the drafting order to the legal situation at the time when the order had been issued. Referring to the case-law quoted by the Constitutional Court, it found no concerns as regards the legality of the drafting order and therefore also no indication to institute proceedings to review constitutionality (Gesetzesprüfungsverfahren) as proposed by the applicant.

On 14 May 1998 the Lower Austrian Military Authority issued another conscription order for an examination of the applicant’s fitness to perform military service.

On 19 May 1998 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court against the order. He submitted in particular that by virtue of the 1998 Act, the Jehovah’s Witnesses had been granted the status of a “registered religious community”. However, the ten-year period for a successful application for recognition under the Recognition Act (Anerkennungsgesetz), newly introduced by section 11 of the 1998 Act, lacked objective justification. Furthermore, it precluded any recognition for the following ten years. Since section 24(3) of the Military Service Act referred to “recognised religious societies” and restricted exemption from military service to members of recognised religious societies, the applicant again requested the Constitutional Court to revoke this limitation and also to revoke the ten-year period prescribed in section 11 of the 1998 Act.

On 8 June 1998 the Constitutional Court refused to deal with the complaint for lack of prospects of success. It further held that the provision of the 1998 Act referred to was not directly applicable to the case at issue.

Subsequently, the applicant filed a request for recognition as a conscientious objector (Zivildiensterklärung), which was granted.

Between 1 February 1999 and 31 January 2000 he performed his civilian service in a social institution.

On 1 February 2000 the applicant joined the “Religious Order of the Jehovah’s Witnesses” (Orden der Sondervollzeitdiener der Zeugen Jehovas), where he lived and worked as a preacher (Bethelmitarbeiter).

In February 2001 he left the order and continued to work as a preacher and deacon.