Die regspersoonlikheid van kerke: ‘n Juridiese perspektief

Abstract

The powers of religious bodies largely depend on whether they are entrusted with legal personality or not. If a church has been entrusted with legal personality, it has the capacity to acquire rights or incur liabilities; it can own property, enter into legal transactions or sue and be sued in its own name. The nature of the association, together with its constitution and objects, determine whether an association possesses legal personality or not. From a legal point of view, it is clear that the church is viewed a legal person, constituted on its own internal rules. The courts have however not been consistent in their application and views on recognizing and defining the legal personality of churches. It seems clear however that churches are seen by the law as associations with legal personality, which are the lawful owners of their assets, property and funds and that legal personality can also vest in the different constitutent congregations, circuits or synods.