September 26, 2025
by Gvantsa Danelia The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently delivered its judgment in Matchavariani v. Georgia (Application no. 46852/21). At first glance, the case might seem like another routine finding of a violation in an administrative detention case. However, a closer examination reveals a subtle yet crucial message from Strasbourg, particularly concerning a […]
September 16, 2025
By Florian Kriener The right to assemble peacefully as guaranteed by Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) is essential in any democracy. It protects the right of a democracy’s citizens to unite and publicly demand changes in public policy. Peaceful assemblies and protests are therefore widely recognized for their role in […]
May 27, 2025
By Alain Zysset The key feature of an anxious-avoidant attachment style is the ambivalence between seeking connection and seeking withdrawal. This can lead to inconsistent behaviours towards partners, displaying excessive closeness one time and abruptly retreating from the relationship the next time. There are analogous traits of an anxious-avoidant attachment style in the Court’s reasoning […]
March 14, 2025
By Dr. Alice Dejean de la Bâtie The case Bodson et al. v. Belgium, handed down by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on 16 January 2025, raises several fundamental questions: The legal qualification of the offence of malicious obstruction, the repression of (organised) collective mobilisation, and the leeway given to states in restricting […]
January 21, 2025
By Gaia Zanotti While Art.11 of the European Convention of Human Rights (‘ECHR’) protects the right to “form and join trade unions for the protection of [one’s] interests,” it does not explicitly address the tools trade unions may employ, like collective bargaining and collective action, including strikes. The status of the right to strike has […]
January 17, 2025
Maxim Krupskiy Kobaliya and others v Russia concerns ‘foreign agent’ legislation in Russia and the way it developed since 2012. Russian legislation on ‘foreign agents’ had first come before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, the Court) in Ecodefence and Others v. Russia, where the Court found substantial violations of Article 11 (read in […]
February 06, 2024
by Ignatius Yordan Nugraha Civil servants are constitutionally prohibited from striking in Germany. This general prohibition also affects State school teachers who have a civil servant status. On 14 December 2023, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in Humpert and Others v Germany that such a prohibition did not […]
January 19, 2024
by Tommaso Virgili In the case of Internationale Humanitäre Hilfsorganisation e. V. v. Germany, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that the decision by the German authorities to dissolve and seize the assets of a charity due to its indirect support to the Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas did not violate Article 11 of […]
December 22, 2023
By Dr. Alice Dejean de la Bâtie Lawmakers in Europe are tightening the grip of Criminal Law on public protests and gatherings, targeting demonstrations turning violent and threatening public order and safety (see below). This increase in repression carries the risk of unnecessary interference with the right to freedom of peaceful assembly enshrined in Article […]
October 13, 2023
by Emre Turkut On 26 September 2023, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights delivered a highly anticipated decision in the case of Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye. The case concerns an application lodged on 17 March 2020 by a teacher who was dismissed from public service through a coercive state of emergency decree, […]
February 28, 2023
by Jacob van de Kerkhof On 15 December 2022, the European Court of Human Rights rendered its judgment in Peradze et al v Georgia, concerning 7 protestors who were arrested at a demonstration against a construction project for holding banners with lewd language (along the lines of ‘[construction project], my cock’). The applicants received a minor administrative […]
May 09, 2022
by Stijn Smet Communauté genevoise d’action syndicale (CGAS) v. Switzerland is the first COVID-19 case (that I am aware of) in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In CGAS, the Court rules that an absolute ban on public manifestations, which remained […]