Road blockades part of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly

dublin | bin tax / household tax / water tax | opinion/analysis

Friday October 24, 2003 17:44

by lawyer

Road blockades part of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly

It might be useful for activists to use a judgement of the European
Court of Justice accepting road blockades as part of the freedom of
expression and assembly. Here's a rough translation from an article
on the Belgian CWI site about this:

Road blockades part of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly

The European Court of Justice recently decided that a road blockade
can be seen as part of the freedom of expression and the freedom of
assembly.

The Court made a judgement after a transport company started a
procedure against the Austrian government because that government
had allowed an action in 1998 which included a blockade of the
Brenner motorway for 30 hours.

The Court decided that there has to be a balance between the right
on free movement and the freedom of expression and assembly. The
latter are human rights which are fundamental rights recognised by
the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms. According to the Court those rights therefore have to be
taken into account.

The fact that this action method means a physical obstacle to the
free movement of people does not automatically lead to the fact that
the action would not be peaceful.

The Court however says there has to be a sense of proportion between
the legitime goal of freedom of expression and the limitations to
the free movement of people and goods. That leaves the door open for
restrictions on the right to organise blockades, but still the
judgement is useful for activists all over Europe.

Joe / Clare: jailing goes against European law

The recent jailing of Joe Higgins and Clare Daly for their
involvement in organising actions against the bin tax goes against
several European rules. The Irish court says blocking the bin trucks
would be unacceptable. With the recent judgement of the European
Court of Justice this position is questionable. The Irish court
furthermore jailed Joe and Clare on the basis of expressing their
opinion, while supporting the people they represent in their fight
against double taxation.

The freedom of expression and assembly is an important human right
according to the European Court on Human Rights, and it is a right
which should be implemented in a very strict way if it involves
elected representatives.

The jailing of Joe Higgins and Clare Daly goes against articles 10
and 11 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms. Was the Irish government not keen on
European institutions and rules? Or does that only apply when it
suits them?

Reference: Court of Justice 12 june 2003, C-112/00, Eugen
Schmidberger, Internationale Transporte und Planzüge v. Republik
Österreich