Legal regulation of religious denominations in Romania: a comparative study between the laws of 1928, 1948 and 2006

The three laws that have provided the legal framework for the functioning of religious denominations in Romania from adopting of the first Constitution in 1866 to the present day were: Law 54/2028, Decree 177/1948 and Law 489/2006. They reflect how the legal protection of religious freedom was ensured under the different political regimes that ruled Romania: during the monarchy, Law 54/2028, during the communist period, Decree 177/1948, and during the post-communist (democratic) period, Law 489/2006. Each of these laws bears the government's stamp under which they were adopted. A comparative analysis of the legal provisions in these normative acts allows an understanding of the evolution of the right to religious freedom over almost one hundred years of history.