USCIRF's Standards for Religious Group Registration

This month the USCIRF issued a factsheet about laws pertaining to the registration of religious groups.  The intent is to list some standards to apply when creating such laws in order to preserve religious freedom and uphold the standards of:

USCIRF encourages all countries to develop registration requirements for religious
organizations that meet international human rights standards, protect the right to
freedom of religion or belief, and allow religious communities to acquire and maintain
legal personality.

Find the full factsheet here.  The standards are:

• Registration of religious groups cannot be mandatory.  (Registration can only be required to confer legal personality and must not be compulsory in order to practice religion.)
• Legislation cannot contain undue restrictions or other bureaucratic burdens that hinder access to legal personality.
• Requirements for registration must be precise and defined.
• Registration laws must be non-discriminatory.
• Religious organizations must be carefully defined.  (To the extent that religion is defined, the belief in God must not be required.)
• Registration requirements cannot be onerous or invasive. (Certain thresholds, such as a high minimum membership numbers or lengthy requirements for existence in a state, can exclude particular religious groups.)
• There must be avenues for appealing denials.