Originally published in Norwegian by statsforvalteren.no on December 22, 2022
Oslo, Norway, December 22, 2022 – The State Administrator of Oslo & Viken sent a notice to Jehovah’s Witnesses about the possible loss of registration on 25 October this year. In the notice, they were asked for feedback on whether they wanted to rectify the conditions that led to the refusal of state subsidies. The community has not wanted to correct the conditions that led to the denial of state grants in 2021, and they express that they still disagree with the decision to deny grants.
Earlier this year, Jehovah’s Witnesses were denied state funding for 2021 due to a breach of the Religious Communities Act. In The State Administrator’s opinion, the religious community violates the members’ right to freedom of expression. The State Administrator believes this violates the members’ right to freedom of religion. The State Administrator also believes that they violate children’s rights by allowing them to exclude baptized minors, and by encouraging members to socially isolate children who do not follow the religious community’s rules.
According to the Religious Communities Act, a community can have its registration withdrawn if they violate the provisions of the law. The State Administrator has come to the conclusion that Jehovah’s Witnesses violate the members’ right to free expression of religious communities and that they violate children’s rights. On this background, The State Administrator has come to the conclusion that the society cannot be registered under the Religious Societies Act. The State Administrator believes that this corresponds to the provisions of the Religious Communities Act.
Loss of registration means that the community no longer has the right to submit claims for state subsidies. It also means that society loses the authority to marry. They are still free to practice their religion and their activities independently of public registration, as the Religious Communities Act is essentially a subsidy act.
You can find the decision on the right hand column.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are a registered religion up till January 1, 2023.
The registration of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious community is withdrawn in accordance with the Religious Communities Act and the Religious Communities Regulations.
The new registration of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious community has been rejected in accordance with the Religious Communities Act and the Religious Communities Regulations.
By letter dated December 14, 2022, Jehovah’s Witnesses responded to a notice of possible loss of registration, clearly stating that they do not want to rectify the conditions that led to the refusal of state subsidies for 2021 and disagrees with the decision of October 27, 2022.
In the State’s Administrator’s decision of January 27, 2022, there were two factors that led to the refusal of government funding.
Factor 1 – Jehovah’s Witnesses prevents free expression for its members. This contravenes the Religious Communities Act § 2, the Basic Law § 16 and ECHR Article 9.
The consequence of leaving (disassociating) Jehovah’s Witnesses and being disfellowshipped are the same. Jehovah’s Witnesses have made it clear that members should not have contact with disfellowshipped and disassociated members.
Since the decision of January 27, 2022, State’s Administrator have received letters from Jehovah’s Witnesses who state that they want to leave the religious community but choose to stay because they do not want to break with family and friends. This group of members say that their choice to leave the congregation will mean that friends and family cannot have contact with them, even if they leave the congregation voluntarily, and not because of disfellowshipping.
Factor 2 – Children’s rights were violated by the exercise of negative social control of children in the congregation; by subjecting them to the same disfellowshipping rules outlined in Factor 1 above; and social isolation of unbaptized children who do not behave in line with the organization’s rules. This contravenes the Religious Communities Act § 6 first paragraph, the Constitution § 104 third paragraph and the Convention on the Rights of the Child art. 19.
The disfellowshipping of under-age baptized publishers violates Section 6 of the Religious Communities Act.
The fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses violates its members’ right to freedom of expression; violates the right to freedom of religion; and violates children’s human rights protection under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is considered particularly serious.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have therefore met the legal requirements as outlined in the Religious Communities Act and the Religious Communities Regulations, for withdrawing the registration of them as a registered religious community and for denying them access to further State grants.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are still free to practice its religion and its activities regardless of a public registration. This is contrary to the information presented by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses in their Update#8.
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The State Administrator denies Jehovah’s Witnesses state subsidies for 2021
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Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.
