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Although the court conceded that Article 47 of the Civil Status Law “contains the absolute right to change information related to religious affiliation without restriction by the legislator,” the court offered a new interpretation of the article, stating, “The legislator requires a set of measures, conditions, safeguards and documents which must be provided for the administrative body to issue an order to change one’s religion or name on a birth certificate or personal identity card. These measures have nothing to do with proving belief, which remains between the servant and his Lord and requires no proof, but are rather conditions related to the exigencies of the regulatory system documenting particular information on the citizen’s identifying papers, to manage the legal ramifications of dealing with others in family matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, all of which differ according to religion or confession.”
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