Freedom of assembly

In 2007, under the auspices of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights , Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly were developed. The document notes the impossibility of creating a unified model law on freedom of assembly, which could be adopted by all member countries, but it laid down minimum standards that should be followed by the authorities of member countries in the process of regulating the right to freedom of assembly. The following are the main provisions of this document ^[1] .

Only peaceful meetings of citizens are subject to protection by the state. A meeting is defined as peaceful if its organizers pursue peaceful intentions. At the same time, the concept of “peaceful” includes such behavior, which can irritate those who disagree with the ideas of the participants of this meeting, and also include such behavior, which can be aimed at hindering the actions of third parties.

Principle 1. Presumption in favor of holding meetings

Since the right to freedom of peaceful assembly is a fundamental right, its implementation should be exercised without external regulation, to the extent possible. Those who wish to attend the meeting should not ask for permission. Legislation should unequivocally define the presumption in favor of freedom of assembly. Whenever it is possible to interpret the norms of the law in favor of holding a meeting, it should not be obstructed.

Principle 2. The duty of the state to protect a peaceful assembly

The state is obliged to provide a full set of mechanisms and procedures for the effective practical realization of the freedom of assembly without excessive bureaucratic regulation.

Principle 3. Legality

Any restrictions must be based on the provisions of the law, and the law itself must comply with international human rights law and its norms must be clearly worded and not cause discrepancies. Everyone should be able to unambiguously determine whether his behavior conflicts with the norms of the law or not.

Principle 4. Proportionality

Any restrictions on the freedom of assembly must be proportionate. In pursuit of legitimate goals, the authorities should give preference to measures that provide the least level of interference in the course of the assembly. The restrictions provided by law should not be applied automatically, but only taking into account the specific situation in each particular case. Forced termination of assemblies should be perceived as a last resort if it is impossible to realize legitimate goals by other means.

Principle 5. Good administrative practices

The legislation should clearly state which body is empowered to regulate freedom of assembly. The general public should be given free access to full and reliable information about the activities of this body, and its decision-making procedures should be transparent.

Principle 6. Non-discrimination

When regulating the freedom of assembly, the authorities are obliged to provide an equal opportunity for the exercise of this right to any person or group of persons. No restrictions are allowed on the basis of race, gender, nationality, religion, political views, membership of any social groups, and the like.

Constitution

Wrongful Practice

The report of the volunteer organization OVD-Info for 2012 about political detentions in Moscow and the cities of the nearest Moscow region contains information on 5169 politically motivated detentions during 228 events. All actions were peaceful, except for the March 6 million march of millions that ended in clashes with the police. In the course of 20 agreed events, 1079 people were detained; in the course of 208 uncoordinated or not requiring coordination of activities - 4090 people.

Based on the data collected, the following main violations of the rights of detainees were identified:

• detention takes place without prior notice to the detainee of a violation of the law;
• police officers do not introduce themselves and do not give the reason for the arrest to the detained person;
• the police unreasonably use violence at detentions and in police stations;
• there are frequent cases of detentions of journalists covering events;
• ATS officers make numerous violations against detainees, including those related to the right to legal protection and timely medical assistance ^[2] .

On December 14, 2013, the Russian State Duma Committee on Mass Media approved a draft law on blocking websites that host calls for unauthorized meetings, without a trial. ^[3]

• Political freedom

• Matveev V.F. The right of public meetings - SPb, 1909
• Freedom of peaceful assembly Comp. S. Yu. Nugaeva et al. M .: New Justice, 2010. ISBN 978-5-91028-059-9
• Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly / OSCE / ODIHR. - Warsaw, 2007. - ISBN 83-60190-39-9 .
• OSCE / ODIHR 2011 Freedom of Peace Assembly Monitoring Guide , ISBN 978-92-9234-815-1
• Fedotov, M. A. Article 11. Freedom of assembly and association // Commentary on the convention on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the practice of its application / V. A. Tumanov, L. M. Entin - M .: Norma, 2002 - p. 186–199 ISBN 5-89123-658-3
• On the observance on the territory of the Russian Federation of the constitutional right to peaceful assembly - special report of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation , 2007
• On the violation of human rights to peaceful assembly in the regions of Russia - Moscow Helsinki Group , Civil Initiatives Support Center
• Karastelev V., Kozlov A. Report on the observance of the right to freedom of assembly in 2011 ( excerpts ) 2012
• Zvyagina N. A Brief History of the Freedom of Assembly in the Russian Federation “Forbes” 2012

• Strategy-31 , Site of the All-Russian Protest Movement for Freedom of Assembly
• Law of the Russian Federation No. 54-ФЗ “On Meetings, Meetings, Demonstrations, Processions and Pickets”
  • Opinions of the Venice Commission on the Russian law (2012) and on amendments to it in 2012 (2013) (eng.)
  • Expert opinion on the law “On Amendments to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations and the Federal Law“ On Meetings, Meetings, Demonstrations, Processions and Pickets ”” (Neopr.) (PDF). Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation (June 7, 2012). The appeal date is December 9, 2012. Archived December 9, 2012.
• Opinions and observations of the Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the right to freedom of assembly , Council of Europe, 2011
• Hammarberg T. Freedom of demonstrations is a human right - even when their slogans contain criticism of 2010
• Decisions of the ECHR and the UN Human Rights Committee with a precedent value:
  • Selected decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Article 11 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms M .: Moscow Helsinki Group, 2012. ISBN 978-5-98440-070-1
  • Freedom of peaceful assembly in the practice of the European Court of Justice and the Commission on Human Rights: a compilation of decisions and judgments . Ed. S. S. Dickman. M .: New Justice, 2011. ISBN 978-5-91028-070-4
  • Lashmankin and Others v. Russia ECHR (Eng.)
  • Kivenmaa v. Finkland Considerations of the UN Human Rights Committee on complaint No. 412/1990 of 06/09/1994. (eng.)
• Decisions of the bodies of constitutional control on freedom of assembly:
  • The decision of the US Armed Forces in Brandenburg v. Ohio 06/09/1969 (Eng.)
  • The definition of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 705-ОО dated 01.06.2010
  • Definition of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 484-ОP from 04/02/2009.
  • Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 12-P dated 05/18/2012.
  • Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation at the request of the State Duma deputies and the complaint of Eduard Limonov about the verification of the constitutionality of amendments to the law on meetings , 2013
  • Decision of the Latvian Constitutional Court in case No. 2006-03-0106 of 11/23/2006
• UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association: a special website and a section on the OHCHR portal (eng.)
• Information Agency "Article20"