 counter to Germany 's free and democratic order , and has been monitoring Scientology since 1997 , as have the Offices for the Protection of the Constitution in a number of German Länder . Minister for Family Policy Claudia Nolte instituted the surveillance , saying that the church had totalitarian tendencies and that she would oppose Scientology with all the means at her disposal .   The German Church of Scientology has repeatedly challenged the legality of this surveillance in court . In December 2001 , the Administrative Court in Berlin ruled against the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution and ordered it to stop the recruitment and deployment of staff and members of the Church of Scientology Berlin as paid informants . The court ruled that the use of informants was disproportionate . In 2003 , the same court ruled that it was illegal for the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution to include the activities of Scientology in its report , given that the report did not document any activities that were opposed to the constitution .   At the federal level , Scientology lost a complaint against continued surveillance by the BfV in November 2004 . The federal court based its opinion on its judgment that the aims of Scientology , as outlined by L. Ron Hubbard in his writings , were incompatible with the German constitution . Lawyers acting for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution pointed out that Hubbard had written that civil rights , for example , should be restricted to Scientologists , and they asserted that the Scientology organization was taking systematic steps to infiltrate society and government institutions in order to prevent anti @-@ Scientology legislation . Opposing counsel acting for the Church of Scientology had contended that Scientology was non @-@ political , its aims were the liberation of the human being , and that Hubbard 's instructions were valid only within the Church of Scientology and were subject to interpretation , and at any rate there was no effort to implement these instructions in Germany . The court disagreed and ruled that many sources , some of them not accessible to the general public , indicated that the aims of the Church of Scientology did include the abrogation of the principle of equality and other essential human rights .   In Saarland , surveillance was stopped by a court as inappropriate in 2005 , because there is no local branch of Scientology and few members . As of 6 May 2008 , the Church of Scientology in Germany dropped the legal battle to prevent surveillance of its activities by the BfV after the North Rhine @-@ Westphalia Higher Administrative Court in Münster refused to hear an appeal on the matter . Being suspected of maintaining " ambitions against the free , democratic basic order " , the Scientology organization added a declaration on human rights and democracy to its bylaws .   There is at least one example of surveillance of Scientology by the German intelligence services outside of Germany . In 1998 , the Swiss government detained an agent of the German government , charging him with " carrying out illegal business for a foreign state , working for a political information service and falsifying identity documents " . The German government posted bail for the agent . He was eventually given a 30 @-@ day suspended jail sentence for spying on Scientology , and the German government apologized to Switzerland for the incident .   = = " Sect filters " = =   A " sect filter " , also known as a " protective declaration " ( Schutzerklärung ) , is a document that requires prospective business partners or employees to acknowledge any association with a sect or new religious movement before entering a business or employment contract . Such sect filters , primarily used to screen out Scientologists , have been drafted by German government agencies for use by businesses . " Sect commissioner 's " offices exist in Germany as part of regional or local government .   A work instruction introduced in 1996 requires government staff in the Arbeitsämter – local employment agencies and social security offices operated by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs – to mark companies owned by Scientologists with the letter " S " . Where companies are suspected of having Scientologist staff , prospective employees are alerted to this fact by government staff . Government officials have publicised the names of individual Scientologists and conducted media campaigns against their businesses ; some businesspeople have placed advertisements in the press saying they are not Scientologists in order to avoid the associated stigma .   Due to concerns about possible government infiltration by Scientologists , applicants for civil service positions in Bavaria are required to declare whether or not they are Scientologists , and a similar policy has been instituted in Hesse . Companies tendering for government contracts were likewise required to state they are not Scientologists ; in 2001 , this requirement was changed , and firms are now asked to sign a form stating that " the technology of L. Ron Hubbard will not be used in executing the contract " . When it became known that Microsoft 's Windows 2000 operating system included a disk defragmenter developed by Executive Software International ( a company headed by a Scientologist ) , this caused concern among German government officials and clergy over data security and the potential for espionage . To assuage these concerns , Microsoft Germany agreed to provide a means to disable the utility . Following letters of
Ġcounter Ġto ĠGermany Ġ' s Ġfree Ġand Ġdemocratic Ġorder Ġ, Ġand Ġhas Ġbeen Ġmonitoring ĠScientology Ġsince Ġ1997 Ġ, Ġas Ġhave Ġthe ĠOff ices Ġfor Ġthe ĠProtection Ġof Ġthe ĠConstitution Ġin Ġa Ġnumber Ġof ĠGerman ĠL Ã¤ nder Ġ. ĠMinister Ġfor ĠFamily ĠPolicy ĠClaudia ĠN ol te Ġinstituted Ġthe Ġsurveillance Ġ, Ġsaying Ġthat Ġthe Ġchurch Ġhad Ġtotalitarian Ġtendencies Ġand Ġthat Ġshe Ġwould Ġoppose ĠScientology Ġwith Ġall Ġthe Ġmeans Ġat Ġher Ġdisposal Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe ĠGerman ĠChurch Ġof ĠScientology Ġhas Ġrepeatedly Ġchallenged Ġthe Ġlegality Ġof Ġthis Ġsurveillance Ġin Ġcourt Ġ. ĠIn ĠDecember Ġ2001 Ġ, Ġthe ĠAdministrative ĠCourt Ġin ĠBerlin Ġruled Ġagainst Ġthe ĠBerlin ĠOffice Ġfor Ġthe ĠProtection Ġof Ġthe ĠConstitution Ġand Ġordered Ġit Ġto Ġstop Ġthe Ġrecruitment Ġand Ġdeployment Ġof Ġstaff Ġand Ġmembers Ġof Ġthe ĠChurch Ġof ĠScientology ĠBerlin Ġas Ġpaid Ġinformants Ġ. ĠThe Ġcourt Ġruled Ġthat Ġthe Ġuse Ġof Ġinformants Ġwas Ġdisproportionate Ġ. ĠIn Ġ2003 Ġ, Ġthe Ġsame Ġcourt Ġruled Ġthat Ġit Ġwas Ġillegal Ġfor Ġthe ĠBerlin ĠOffice Ġfor Ġthe ĠProtection Ġof Ġthe ĠConstitution Ġto Ġinclude Ġthe Ġactivities Ġof ĠScientology Ġin Ġits Ġreport Ġ, Ġgiven Ġthat Ġthe Ġreport Ġdid Ġnot Ġdocument Ġany Ġactivities Ġthat Ġwere Ġopposed Ġto Ġthe Ġconstitution Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠAt Ġthe Ġfederal Ġlevel Ġ, ĠScientology Ġlost Ġa Ġcomplaint Ġagainst Ġcontinued Ġsurveillance Ġby Ġthe ĠB f V Ġin ĠNovember Ġ2004 Ġ. ĠThe Ġfederal Ġcourt Ġbased Ġits Ġopinion Ġon Ġits Ġjudgment Ġthat Ġthe Ġaims Ġof ĠScientology Ġ, Ġas Ġoutlined Ġby ĠL . ĠRon ĠHubbard Ġin Ġhis Ġwritings Ġ, Ġwere Ġincompatible Ġwith Ġthe ĠGerman Ġconstitution Ġ. ĠLawyers Ġacting Ġfor Ġthe ĠFederal ĠOffice Ġfor Ġthe ĠProtection Ġof Ġthe ĠConstitution Ġpointed Ġout Ġthat ĠHubbard Ġhad Ġwritten Ġthat Ġcivil Ġrights Ġ, Ġfor Ġexample Ġ, Ġshould Ġbe Ġrestricted Ġto ĠScient ologists Ġ, Ġand Ġthey Ġasserted Ġthat Ġthe ĠScientology Ġorganization Ġwas Ġtaking Ġsystematic Ġsteps Ġto Ġinfiltrate Ġsociety Ġand Ġgovernment Ġinstitutions Ġin Ġorder Ġto Ġprevent Ġanti Ġ@ - @ ĠScientology Ġlegislation Ġ. ĠOpp osing Ġcounsel Ġacting Ġfor Ġthe ĠChurch Ġof ĠScientology Ġhad Ġcontended Ġthat ĠScientology Ġwas Ġnon Ġ@ - @ Ġpolitical Ġ, Ġits Ġaims Ġwere Ġthe Ġliberation Ġof Ġthe Ġhuman Ġbeing Ġ, Ġand Ġthat ĠHubbard Ġ' s Ġinstructions Ġwere Ġvalid Ġonly Ġwithin Ġthe ĠChurch Ġof ĠScientology Ġand Ġwere Ġsubject Ġto Ġinterpretation Ġ, Ġand Ġat Ġany Ġrate Ġthere Ġwas Ġno Ġeffort Ġto Ġimplement Ġthese Ġinstructions Ġin ĠGermany Ġ. ĠThe Ġcourt Ġdisagreed Ġand Ġruled Ġthat Ġmany Ġsources Ġ, Ġsome Ġof Ġthem Ġnot Ġaccessible Ġto Ġthe Ġgeneral Ġpublic Ġ, Ġindicated Ġthat Ġthe Ġaims Ġof Ġthe ĠChurch Ġof ĠScientology Ġdid Ġinclude Ġthe Ġab rog ation Ġof Ġthe Ġprinciple Ġof Ġequality Ġand Ġother Ġessential Ġhuman Ġrights Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠIn ĠSa ar land Ġ, Ġsurveillance Ġwas Ġstopped Ġby Ġa Ġcourt Ġas Ġinappropriate Ġin Ġ2005 Ġ, Ġbecause Ġthere Ġis Ġno Ġlocal Ġbranch Ġof ĠScientology Ġand Ġfew Ġmembers Ġ. ĠAs Ġof Ġ6 ĠMay Ġ2008 Ġ, Ġthe ĠChurch Ġof ĠScientology Ġin ĠGermany Ġdropped Ġthe Ġlegal Ġbattle Ġto Ġprevent Ġsurveillance Ġof Ġits Ġactivities Ġby Ġthe ĠB f V Ġafter Ġthe ĠNorth ĠRh ine Ġ@ - @ ĠWest ph alia ĠHigher ĠAdministrative ĠCourt Ġin ĠMÃ¼ n ster Ġrefused Ġto Ġhear Ġan Ġappeal Ġon Ġthe Ġmatter Ġ. ĠBeing Ġsuspected Ġof Ġmaintaining Ġ" Ġambitions Ġagainst Ġthe Ġfree Ġ, Ġdemocratic Ġbasic Ġorder Ġ" Ġ, Ġthe ĠScientology Ġorganization Ġadded Ġa Ġdeclaration Ġon Ġhuman Ġrights Ġand Ġdemocracy Ġto Ġits Ġby laws Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThere Ġis Ġat Ġleast Ġone Ġexample Ġof Ġsurveillance Ġof ĠScientology Ġby Ġthe ĠGerman Ġintelligence Ġservices Ġoutside Ġof ĠGermany Ġ. ĠIn Ġ1998 Ġ, Ġthe ĠSwiss Ġgovernment Ġdetained Ġan Ġagent Ġof Ġthe ĠGerman Ġgovernment Ġ, Ġcharging Ġhim Ġwith Ġ" Ġcarrying Ġout Ġillegal Ġbusiness Ġfor Ġa Ġforeign Ġstate Ġ, Ġworking Ġfor Ġa Ġpolitical Ġinformation Ġservice Ġand Ġfals ifying Ġidentity Ġdocuments Ġ" Ġ. ĠThe ĠGerman Ġgovernment Ġposted Ġbail Ġfor Ġthe Ġagent Ġ. ĠHe Ġwas Ġeventually Ġgiven Ġa Ġ30 Ġ@ - @ Ġday Ġsuspended Ġjail Ġsentence Ġfor Ġspying Ġon ĠScientology Ġ, Ġand Ġthe ĠGerman Ġgovernment Ġapologized Ġto ĠSwitzerland Ġfor Ġthe Ġincident Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ" ĠSect Ġfilters Ġ" Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠA Ġ" Ġsect Ġfilter Ġ" Ġ, Ġalso Ġknown Ġas Ġa Ġ" Ġprotective Ġdeclaration Ġ" Ġ( ĠSch ut zer kl Ã¤ r ung Ġ) Ġ, Ġis Ġa Ġdocument Ġthat Ġrequires Ġprospective Ġbusiness Ġpartners Ġor Ġemployees Ġto Ġacknowledge Ġany Ġassociation Ġwith Ġa Ġsect Ġor Ġnew Ġreligious Ġmovement Ġbefore Ġentering Ġa Ġbusiness Ġor Ġemployment Ġcontract Ġ. ĠSuch Ġsect Ġfilters Ġ, Ġprimarily Ġused Ġto Ġscreen Ġout ĠScient ologists Ġ, Ġhave Ġbeen Ġdrafted Ġby ĠGerman Ġgovernment Ġagencies Ġfor Ġuse Ġby Ġbusinesses Ġ. Ġ" ĠSect Ġcommissioner Ġ' s Ġ" Ġoffices Ġexist Ġin ĠGermany Ġas Ġpart Ġof Ġregional Ġor Ġlocal Ġgovernment Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠA Ġwork Ġinstruction Ġintroduced Ġin Ġ1996 Ġrequires Ġgovernment Ġstaff Ġin Ġthe ĠAr be its Ã¤ m ter ĠâĢĵ Ġlocal Ġemployment Ġagencies Ġand Ġsocial Ġsecurity Ġoffices Ġoperated Ġby Ġthe ĠFederal ĠMinistry Ġof ĠLabour Ġand ĠSocial ĠAffairs ĠâĢĵ Ġto Ġmark Ġcompanies Ġowned Ġby ĠScient ologists Ġwith Ġthe Ġletter Ġ" ĠS Ġ" Ġ. ĠWhere Ġcompanies Ġare Ġsuspected Ġof Ġhaving ĠScient ologist Ġstaff Ġ, Ġprospective Ġemployees Ġare Ġalerted Ġto Ġthis Ġfact Ġby Ġgovernment Ġstaff Ġ. ĠGovernment Ġofficials Ġhave Ġpublic ised Ġthe Ġnames Ġof Ġindividual ĠScient ologists Ġand Ġconducted Ġmedia Ġcampaigns Ġagainst Ġtheir Ġbusinesses Ġ; Ġsome Ġbusiness people Ġhave Ġplaced Ġadvertisements Ġin Ġthe Ġpress Ġsaying Ġthey Ġare Ġnot ĠScient ologists Ġin Ġorder Ġto Ġavoid Ġthe Ġassociated Ġstigma Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠDue Ġto Ġconcerns Ġabout Ġpossible Ġgovernment Ġinfiltration Ġby ĠScient ologists Ġ, Ġapplicants Ġfor Ġcivil Ġservice Ġpositions Ġin ĠBav aria Ġare Ġrequired Ġto Ġdeclare Ġwhether Ġor Ġnot Ġthey Ġare ĠScient ologists Ġ, Ġand Ġa Ġsimilar Ġpolicy Ġhas Ġbeen Ġinstituted Ġin ĠH esse Ġ. ĠCompanies Ġtend ering Ġfor Ġgovernment Ġcontracts Ġwere Ġlikewise Ġrequired Ġto Ġstate Ġthey Ġare Ġnot ĠScient ologists Ġ; Ġin Ġ2001 Ġ, Ġthis Ġrequirement Ġwas Ġchanged Ġ, Ġand Ġfirms Ġare Ġnow Ġasked Ġto Ġsign Ġa Ġform Ġstating Ġthat Ġ" Ġthe Ġtechnology Ġof ĠL . ĠRon ĠHubbard Ġwill Ġnot Ġbe Ġused Ġin Ġexecuting Ġthe Ġcontract Ġ" Ġ. ĠWhen Ġit Ġbecame Ġknown Ġthat ĠMicrosoft Ġ' s ĠWindows Ġ2000 Ġoperating Ġsystem Ġincluded Ġa Ġdisk Ġdef rag ment er Ġdeveloped Ġby ĠExecutive ĠSoftware ĠInternational Ġ( Ġa Ġcompany Ġheaded Ġby Ġa ĠScient ologist Ġ) Ġ, Ġthis Ġcaused Ġconcern Ġamong ĠGerman Ġgovernment Ġofficials Ġand Ġclergy Ġover Ġdata Ġsecurity Ġand Ġthe Ġpotential Ġfor Ġespionage Ġ. ĠTo Ġass u age Ġthese Ġconcerns Ġ, ĠMicrosoft ĠGermany Ġagreed Ġto Ġprovide Ġa Ġmeans Ġto Ġdisable Ġthe Ġutility Ġ. ĠFollowing Ġletters Ġof