NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

2.7 Freedom of assembly and association (Article 11) Article 11 – Freedom of assembly and association

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. 2. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the administration of the State. 2.7.1 General observations In accordance with Article 11 of the Convention, everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others. 927 Given that, it is logical that organisations of different types are the first to invoke this provision. Unquestionably, this provision of the Convention is also applicable to Article 34 NGOs. Article 11 of the Convention, as well as the previous three Articles, consists of two parts, the first of which defines the right, namely the freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the second delineates the limitations, which may be permissible in respect of the mentioned rights. 928 In addition to general limitations, such as interests of national security and public safety, prevention of disorder or crime, protection of health and morals, which concern all the inhabitants of the state, a number of limitations designed for a special group of population also exist. These are limitations relating to members of the armed forces, 929 the police 930 or the state administration. This means that the rights of Article 34 NGOs comprised of representatives of these groups of people are limited to a wider extent; nevertheless, there is an explanation. Taking into account the main idea of the Convention, which is to protect individuals (also organized in groups such as NGOs) before arbitrariness from the part of the state, it is absolutely clear that the police, armed forces and state administration belonging to state authorities may not be covered by this protection. Otherwise, the Convention would protect the state from itself, which may be possible in some philosophical context, but not in the field of positive law. The first paragraph of Article 11 of the Convention also envisaged the individual’s right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his or her interests. Therefore, it is not surprising that a considerable number of applications lodged with the former Commission and the Court concerned the trade unions of various types. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association under the European Convention On Human Rights (Article 11). Interights manual for lawyers. Current as of July 2010. URL: accessed 1 March 2015. 929 Adefdromil v. France , no. 32191/09, 2 October 2014. 930 National Union of Belgian Police v. Belgium , 27 October 1975, Series a no. 19. 927 HARRIS, 2009, cited above, p. 515. 928

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