KABLIS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
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freedom of assembly. It has not therefore been shown that the general ban
on holding public events in Stefanovskaya Square has been the subject of an
exacting parliamentary and judicial review (compare Animal Defenders
International, cited above, §§ 108 and 114-17).
57. It follows that the Government have not adduced relevant and
sufficient reasons to justify the general ban on holding public events in
Stefanovskaya Square in Syktyvkar.
58. In view of the above, the Court considers that the refusal to approve
the location of the applicant’s public event by reference to the general ban
on holding public events in the vicinity of court buildings or by reference to
the ban, established by a regional law, on holding public events in
Stefanovskaya Square in Syktyvkar, without any consideration to the
specific circumstances of the case, could not therefore be regarded as being
“necessary in a democratic society” within the meaning of Article 11 § 2 of
the Convention.
59. There has therefore been a violation of Article 11 of the Convention.
III. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 13 OF THE CONVENTION
IN CONJUNCTION WITH ARTICLE 11
60. The applicant complained under Article 13 in conjunction with
Article 11 of the Convention that he had not had an effective remedy against
the alleged violation of his freedom of assembly. Article 13 of the
Convention reads:
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in [the] Convention are violated
shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the
violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.”
A. Admissibility
61. The Court notes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded
within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. It further notes
that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be
declared admissible.
B. Merits
1. Submissions by the parties
62. The applicant submitted that the domestic courts had failed to protect
his right to freedom of assembly. The Russian courts were not required by
law to examine the issues of “proportionality” and “necessity in a
democratic society” when examining on judicial review a complaint about a