Helsinki Committee of Armenia v. Armenia | 2015

An unreasonable ban on a peaceful demonstration leads to reforms to protect free assembly

The right of peaceful assembly enshrined in Article 11 is a fundamental right in a democratic society and, like the right to freedom of expression, one of the foundations of such a society

Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, 31^st March 2015

Background

L.G. was a witness in a murder investigation. His death in police custody provoked an outcry among Armenian civil society.

The Helsinki Committee of Armenia is a human rights NGO. One year after L.G.’s death, it informed the authorities that it intended to hold a commemorative march in Yerevan. The mayor banned the march, citing national security reasons. The NGO was not told about the ban and was prevented from holding the march by police.

The NGO argued that the ban had violated its right to hold public demonstrations.

Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

The Mayor of Yerevan had banned the march on grounds of national security, referring to the fact that rallies after recent elections had led to clashes with the authorities.

However, the court noted that the Helsinki Committee’s march had been planned more than two months after the post-election clashes. There was also no evidence that the organisers and participants had been connected with the previous clashed, or that they intended to create disorder of any kind.

The court said that the right to peaceful assembly is fundamental to a democratic society. It doubted that reasons given by the authorities to interfere with that right had been either necessary or sufficient. The decision to ban the march had therefore violated the Helsinki Committee’s right to free assembly. The NGO had also been denied an effective way to challenge the ban in Armenia.

Follow-up

After the case was notified to the Armenian government in January 2010, significant reforms were made to protect the right to hold public demonstrations in accordance with the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In 2011 a Law on Assemblies was passed, introducing various safeguards for the right to free assembly, including the principle that preventing or dispersing a gathering should be a measure of last resort to be used in cases of violence.
The law states that, even if an assembly is conducted without the authorities being properly notified, if it is peaceful it shall be facilitated by police.
The 2011 law also specified that a regulatory body should be responsible for assemblies. That body must answer requests for assemblies within 48 hours, and its decisions should be subject to legal oversight in the courts.
Between 2011 and 2017, 1,369 notifications were submitted to the Mayor’s office. The assembly was banned in only nine cases, and only one decision was contested before the administrative court.
In 2015 changes were made to the constitution to further protect freedom of assembly. These included the right to conduct spontaneous assemblies without prior notification.

Additional information

Themes:

Related examples

Better licensing procedure for TV stations

Independent TV channel A1+ was taken off the air after a regulator denied its parent company’s bid for a broadcasting licence. The European court ruled that Armenia had breached the company’s freedom of expression because the regulator gave no reasons for its decisions. Armenia then changed the law to bring the licensing procedure into line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Themes: Freedom of speech

Armenia

Better protections for peaceful demonstrations after protest was banned

An NGO organised a series of demonstrations in Warsaw, to highlight discrimination against women and minorities. The gatherings were banned, after the city’s mayor said that he was against them because they included support for gay rights. The European court ruled that the ban violated the right to public assembly. This led to changes to Polish law to protect the right to protest.

Themes: Right to equality and freedom from discrimination Freedom of assembly

Poland

Free speech group helps strengthen the right to public protest

Hyde Park is a free speech NGO. It organised a series of protests in Chişinău in 2005 and 2006. However, the authorities banned the events, giving reasons such as the fact that they disagreed with the point the protest was making. The European court ruled that the bans violated the right to free assembly. This and other cases led to reforms to protect free assembly in Moldova.

Themes: Freedom of assembly

Republic of Moldova

Impact of the European Convention on Human Rights