Prohibition of a protest for wage cuts violates the right of assembly
JUDGMENT
United Trade Union Civil Union and Csorba v. Hungary 22.5.2018 (no. 27585/13)
SUMMARY
Prohibition of a protest demonstration regarding planned wage cuts for airport workers. Infringement of Article 11 (freedom of assembly) of the European Convention because the ban on the demonstration constituted a disproportionate interference with the applicants’ rights.
PROVISION
Article 11
PRINCIPAL FACTS
The applicants are the United Civil Aviation Trade Union, a trade union registered in Budapest, and Attila Csorba, a Hungarian national who was born in 1970 and lives in Vecsés (Hungary). Mr Csorba is the president of the United Civil Aviation Trade Union.
The case concerned the applicants’ complaint about the police banning a demonstration they had been planning to hold on the hard shoulder of a road leading to Budapest’s main international airport.
The union wanted to hold a two-hour demonstration of between 50 and 100 people in October 2012 in order to protest about planned salary cuts for airport workers. After a meeting with the organisers, the police decided to prohibit the demonstration on the grounds that it would create a danger for traffic and prevent access to the airport.
The police decision was subsequently upheld by a court.
Relying on Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention, the applicants complained that the ban on their demonstration had been a disproportionate interference with their rights.
THE DECISION OF THE COURT
Violation of Article 11
Just satisfaction: The Court held that the finding of a violation constituted in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants. It further awarded them, jointly, EUR 2,000 for costs and expenses(echrcaselaw.com editing).
