Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: European Court of human rights

Date: 10/23/2008

Subject: The applicant, Sergey Vladimirovich Kuznetsov, is a Russian national who was born in 1957 and lives in Yekaterinburg (Russia). On 25 March 2003 Mr Kuznetsov and a few others held a picket in front of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court to attract public attention to violations of the right of access to a court. The applicant having notified the authorities of the picket eight days beforehand, the police were ordered to maintain public order and traffic safety during the event. The case concerned the applicant’s complaint about his subsequent fine for: sending the picket notice too late; obstructing the passageway to the court building; and, distributing publications which alleged that the Regional Court was corrupt and called for the dismissal of its President. He relied on Articles 10 (freedom of expression) and 11 (freedom of assembly and association). Firstly, the Court noted that the applicant had submitted the picket notice eight days, instead of ten days as stipulated in the applicable regulations, before the event. It considered, however, that to be a merely formal breach of a time-limit. Moreover, that two-day difference did not prevent the authorities from making the necessary preparations for the picket. Secondly, no complaints had been received from visitors, judges or court employees about the alleged obstruction of entry to the courthouse and the applicant had cooperated with the authorities when asked to move. Thirdly, however insulting the President of the Regional Court might have considered the publications distributed by the applicant during the picket and the call for his dismissal, that documentation had not contained any defamatory statements, incitement to violence or rejection of democratic principles. The Court therefore concluded that the Russian authorities had not provided “relevant and sufficient” reasons to justify the interference with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression and assembly and held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 11 interpreted in the light of Article 10.

Parties: Sergueï Kouznetsov c/ Russia

Classification: Freedoms - Art. 11 Freedom of expression - Art. 12 Freedom of assembly