Overview:

• Calvinism, by way of the Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu, is the state denomination.

• Recognition and registration are differentiated yet existential recognition is given only to Calvinism; groups comprising more than 2% of the population are mandated to achieve legal registration and while falekaupule must authorise all groups, even those below the 2% threshold, this does not equate to legal registration procedure and certainly does not equate to the same recognition status as Calvinism receives; hence, a system of both partial and vertical recognition exists.

• The rule of mandatory registration, particularly with the threat of prosecution for unregistration, violates the Bielefeldt provision.

• The country’s non-party status to the ICCPR is further concerning as the government's restrictive approach to religion and belief.

Positive elements:

• Freedom of religion or belief is generally but by no means broadly upheld by the government in practice.

Recommendations:

• Dismantlement of the present series of laws and policies restricting religious activity, especially the laws that give prime authority to falekaupule to make decisions on religious activity and the internal affairs of religious organisations; if this cannot be achieved without the disestablishment of Calvinism, then this may need to take place.

• Become party to and ratify cooperation in the ICCPR.

• Revoke the rule of mandatory registration and any retributions associated with unregistration.

• Re-establish the recognition system so that its provisions are extended to all belief systems and their derivatives.

• To become classified as dynamic, establish a recognition agency that is independent of the government to manage this re-established recognition system with the assurance that politicisation of the registration procedures does not take place and that such procedures are no longer restrictive.