1991: German Federal Constitutional Court “affirmed the right of the Bahá’í community to gain legal capacity in the very shape ordained in the scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith”

Another illustration of the rising authority of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in the public mind emerges from Germany, where the Federal Constitutional Court, the highest legal authority in the land, rendered a decision of capital importance to the recognition of the Faith. A series of lower courts had refused to register the by-laws of a Local Spiritual Assembly on the grounds that the authority granted to the National Spiritual Assembly in that document violated the legal principle requiring the autonomy of all legally incorporated associations. The issues involved are indeed complex and cannot be elaborated here. Suffice it to say that the Federal Constitutional Court upheld the appeal of the Local Spiritual Assembly in a long, closely reasoned decision in which, among other things, it affirmed the right of the Bahá’í community to gain legal capacity in the very shape ordained in the scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith and stated that its nature as a recognized religion was unquestionably confirmed by its inherent character, by public knowledge, and by the testimony of scholars of comparative religion. So significant was the verdict in the Court’s own estimation that it took the rare step of issuing a statement to the press explaining its decision. This outstanding act will have implications for the Bahá’í community far beyond the borders of a united Germany. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (Ridvan 1991 message; Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)