Legal conclusions of the supreme court in religious context cases: determination of jurisdiction

The religion-related disputes are one of the most diffi cult, as they concern a rather delicate issue of a person’s exercise of freedom of conscience. This category of disputes was not very common in the national courts and the lack of judicial experience in resolving disputes with a religious component has led to contradictory case law. Given the above and taking into account the main task of the Supreme Court aimed at ensuring the unity and sustainability of the judicial practice, the analysis of the rulings of the Supreme Court gets signifi cant importance. It can be stated that these disputes are of inter-jurisdictional nature and can be considered by both civil and commercial, and administrative courts, depending on the subject of the claim. The Supreme Court also makes a clear distinction between the disputes with a legal element and the disputes that do not have a legal element and should be resolved out of courts. Disputes with a religious component do not belong to only one category of cases and for this reason they can be characterized as intercategorial. The point is that the subjective criterion cannot be applied to the study of these categories, as disputes with a religious component can arise in the areas of labor, protection of property rights, land, real estate, registration procedures and so on. Both sings prove the complexity and individuality of each dispute as well as diffi culty of resolving such disputes by the courts of all instances. The Article substantiates the proposal on the need for the National School of Judges of Ukraine to develop the special courses for judges that would improve and deepen knowledge in the context and issues of religion-related disputes. The author also emphasizes the value of the national experience in resolving such disputes, as it can be useful for the countries that have the similar religious situation or have almost reached it. Key words: religion-related disputes, disputes with a religious component, jurisdiction, labor disputes, housing disputes.