THE CONCEPT OF A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION AND PECULIARITIES OF ITS LEGAL STATUS

Introduction. The special place of the church in public life and social activities of local communities necessitates and makes it important to take into account all the factors affecting the legal status of religious organizations under martial law. Since our country is a multi-confessional state, this should be taken into account in the process of finding optimal means of ensuring national security in the field of religious relations. These factors determine the importance of determining the legal status of religious organizations in accordance with the current conditions and determine the relevance of the topic of this article. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to formulate the concept of a religious organization, the concept of the legal status of a religious organization and its implementation under the legal regime of martial law. Materials and methods. The research materials are: 1) doctrinal works in the field of constitutional, administrative, civil and other branches of law, which define the basic principles of functioning of religious organizations; 2) the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, by-laws regulating the activities of religious organizations. The study used hermeneutical and formal dogmatic methods to determine the characteristics of religious organizations and their legal status, as well as sociological and documentary analysis methods to identify the main trends in the functioning of religious organizations under martial law. Results. The author defines the concept of a religious organization as a separate social institution based on the idea of a transcendent relationship between a person and a creator (god, demiurge, unknowable supreme being), the essence of which determines the peculiarities of religious rituals and rules of conduct of members of religious communities, as well as their responsibility for non-compliance with the restrictions and prohibitions established by religious doctrine. The author elucidates the peculiarities of sanctions for violation of religious norms and liability of members of religious communities. The concept of the legal status of religious organizations is formulated as a set of rights, obligations, freedoms, prohibitions and restrictions enjoyed by religious organizations in their relations with state and local self-government bodies, the Security and Defense Forces, public organizations, business entities and individuals, as well as legal liability for violation of the requirements of Ukrainian legislation. Discussion. The purpose of the article is to formulate the concept of a religious organization, the concept of the legal status of a religious organization and its implementation under the legal regime of martial law.