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The Code of Criminal Procedure approves a right of refusal of testimony to its clergy, the lawyer said on Sunday in Amberg.
It would be helpful for secular courts to know which group of people falls under it. Whether, for example, Catholic chaplains who are not ordained priests in this sense are clergymen.
Radtke, in his own words a devout Protestant, said that the Evangelical Church in Germany had enacted its own church law at his suggestion. State case law can now build on this. "Things are that simple sometimes."
The constitutional judge said that the right of self-determination of the churches is still very well protected by treaties such as concordates, but also religious freedom in the Basic Law.
Therefore, he is currently "not concerned about a particular party."
But that could also change quickly, he said.
Religious symbols remain controversial
On the dispute over the use of religious symbols in public spaces such as the Christian cross or the Islamic headscarf, Radtke said that there will continue to be debates about this in the future.
To his knowledge, not a single decision of the Federal Constitutional Court was passed unanimously in this regard. For teachers, trainees or prosecutors, however, the state neutrality requirement must be observed.
Those who work in these functions do not act as a private person.
Radtke commented at the first "Amberger Symposium on the Freedom of Religious Practice".
The Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), Juliane Kokott, pointed out at the symposium that a ban on wearing religious symbols in the workplace is not per se discriminatory in the EU.
Employers could prevent their female employees from wearing a headscarf, but a ban must also apply to other religious symbols, Kokott said in Amberg.
The ECJ allows this form of "neutrality policy" in companies.
With a new development in church employment law, on the other hand, the German lawyer has difficulties in her own words.
Thus, depending on the proximity of an activity, the churches could graduate loyalty requirements to their employees for their proclamation. This runs counter to the general principle of equality.
"With us in the court, every doorman must also take the oath," Kokott said.