On Correlation Between Canon (Church) Law and State Law

The relevance of the issue posed in the article results from ongoing discussions in church science about such fundamental concepts as “church law” and “canon law”, as well as their correlation with the state law. This fact seems to be caused by the insufficient current development of the theory of canon law and its detachment from the general legal theory. The conclusion is made that the concepts of “canon law” and “church law” should be considered as identical, and their composition must include regulatory documents adopted by the Church at any time composition and, at the same time, exclude the state law regulating the status of religious organizations. It is also noted that it is possible to perceive church law as corporate law, provided that the latter is understood as the organization’s internal law. As for the secular law, its norms regulating the status of religious organizations can quite possibly be called “religious law”.