27 May 1991
To all National Spiritual Assemblies
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
In the Ridván message of the Universal House of Justice, reference was made to an extremely significant decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany. Since this decision may be of assistance to National Spiritual Assemblies in other countries where difficulties are experienced in obtaining recognition for the Faith, or where the Spiritual Assemblies meet with complications in acquiring legal incorporation, the House of Justice has instructed us to send you the enclosed three documents:
1. The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, in German
2. A
translation of this decision into English
3. An
elucidation of the abbreviations used in the above
4. A brief
outline of the background to the decision and indications of its importance,
drawing on an article by Dr. Udo Schaefer published in Bahá’í Nachrichten (the
newsletter of the German Baha’i community).
We should mention that it proved very difficult indeed to translate the decision into English, since the forms and concepts of German Law differ radically from those of English Law. There is often, therefore, no exact equivalence of terminology. Nevertheless, the English translation is sufficiently faithful as to convey a clear impression of the original.
With loving Bahá'í greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)
