04 Dec Case of Alekseyev and Others v. Russia

In the case of Alekseyev and Others v. Russia (application no. 14988/09 and 50 others, 27.11.2018) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 11 (right to freedom of assembly), a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), and a violation of Article 14 (right not to be discriminated against) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case, which brought together 51 applications from seven applicants, concerned the continued refusal by Russian authorities to approve organisers’ requests to hold LGBT rallies. The Court previously issued a judgment in 2010 in the case of Alekseyev v. Russia (application nos. 4916/07, 25924/08 and 14599/09) involving a similar complaint made by the first applicant in the present case. In that case the Court concluded that the authorities’ refusal to grant permission for LGBT rallies had constituted a violation of Articles 11, 13 and 14 of the Convention. The Court found that it ought to replicate its judgment in that case in the present instance.

It thus found, in particular, that the decision to reject the applicants’ requests to hold public LGBT events could not be justified by concerns over public disorder and was in breach of their right to freedom of assembly. The Court also found that the decision to block the LGBT events had clearly been motivated by the authorities’ disapproval of the theme of the demonstrations, and had thus amounted to discrimination, in violation of Article 14.

The Court reiterated the obligation of States to implement judgments and noted that Russia would need to make a sustained and long-term effort to adopt general measures, particularly in relation to issues of freedom of assembly and discrimination.

References from the official website of the European Court of Human Rights