Practica judiciară neunitară. Natura juridică a raporturilor dintre culte şi personalul clerical
Non-unitary judicial practice. The legal nature of relations between churches and clergy

Summary/Abstract: The legal nature of the relations between churches and their clergy is determined according to their essential features, upon the typology of legally regulated relations, within the frame of the general legal order instituted by the State for the whole society. The atypical character of the relations between churches and their clergy, objectified by the derogatory nature, from common law, of the provisions composing the general regime of churches, applied through different statutory options, does not preclude the legal qualification of these relations as being of employment, provided that they imply hierarchical subordination of clergy and their remuneration for the activity performed. The very fact of legally qualifying these relations as being of employment does not bring any prejudice to church autonomy. Those legal solutions which, due to the objective needs of the religious ambit, derogate from the common law of employment are not essential features of the employment relations. The conclusion is the same when churches exercise statutory options which have no importance as regards the legal qualification of their relations to clergy, as the choice whether to conclude written contracts of employment or to issue individual orders of appointment, which more expressively suggests the increased level of hierarchical subordination.

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