The meaning of “religion” in Belgian Case Law

ABSTRACT: Belgium, according to the French model, has meant to have a policy of prevention against sectarian organizations based on a Report on the topic and the creation of the CIAOSN (Center d'Information et d'Avis sur les Organizations Sectaires Nuisibles). The starting point is represented by attempting to define the concept of "sect", in order to delimit the State's repressive action, between a concept of primary and secondary criminality. Compared to the activities of sectarian religious movements, three issues emerge, which have influenced the reaction of public institutions: the need for the protection of children / vulnerable subjects; the link with crime / terrorism; the media amplification linked to some extreme phenomenon. It’s important to avoid , however, a simple criminalization of the "different" religious phenomenon, regardless of identification of a criminal offense. Methodological and political choices have led to the adoption in 2011 of a law against abus de faiblesse, very similar to that approved in France ten years ago, to protect individuals from the abuse of sectarian movements. However, there have been different ways to deal with the problem in both countries : for example the long process against Scientology ended differently in the two countries, since in Belgium, it was discarded in 2016 while condemned in France four years earlier instead. Mostly the jurisprudence has emphasized that within the autonomy of criminal law, the assessment of the religious profile of a movement can not be limited to the definition of the concept of religion, indefinable and misleading, but must more properly analyse the pursuit of non-lucrative purpose, even from a fiscal point of view. The difficulties are all centered on the subject-religion - which seems to be simply named differently nowadays. This has brought to the attention of the Belgian public opinion the semantic profile of the State's neutrality and the particular configuration of secularism/laicità that constitutional reform has placed among the ideological components of society.