Abstract

For a long time, the Federal Republic of Germany was faced, almost exclusively, with Protestant and Catholic church law and, to a lesser extent, with Jewish law. In recent decades, this has changed significantly with the increase in religious plurality. The question of how to deal with Muslim ideas of marriage or Jewish circumcision of boys, for example, provoked vehement discussions in society. More and more authors in legal theory identify a diversity of legal orders apart from state law. The German legal system is distinguished by some characteristics, which also have an impact on the handling of religious law: an extensive right to self-determination, treaties with religious communities, special tribunals of religious communities, etc. The article analyses current developments in the relationship between the civil and the denominational orders