In the case of Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Italy the Court held that there had been a violation of the prohibition of discrimination.

The case concerned a religious association which complained that it had been unable to enter into an agreement with the Italian State, notwithstanding several attempts to do so. Article 8 of the Italian Constitution allowed non-Catholic denominations to enter into such an agreement in order to regulate their relations with the State and thus benefit from the distribution of the “eight per thousand” (otto per mille) raised from income tax. This distribution, which was the funding system for religious denominations in Italy and was intended to support religious activities, was carried out in accordance with, and proportionally to, the choice indicated by citizens on their tax returns.

The Court found that the Government had submitted no arguments capable of leading it to consider that the grounds they had relied on – in particular the applicant association’s position visà- vis the prohibition on receiving blood transfusions and donating blood, and also the choice not to vote in elections –, constituted a breach of the domestic legal order justifying the difference in treatment complained of. In view of those circumstances and notwithstanding the discretion enjoyed by the domestic authorities in this area, the Court considered that it had not been shown that the difference in treatment between the applicant association and the other religious denominations that had been able to enter into agreements with the Italian State had had an “objective and reasonable justification”.

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