CASE OF KÖRTVÉLYESSY v. HUNGARY (No. 2)
Violation of Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association (Article 11-1 - Freedom of peaceful assembly)
Carlo Ranzoni;Egidijus Kūris;Ganna Yudkivska;Iulia Motoc;Vincent A. De Gaetano;Georges Ravarani
5. The applicant was born in 1965 and lives in Budapest. 6. At 4.07 p.m. on 7 October 2009 the applicant notified the police that he planned to organise a demonstration from 2 to 7 p.m. on 10 October 2009 in front of the Venyige Street prison in Budapest, to protest against the “political persecution of national radicalism”. Venyige Street is a broad cul-de-sac with a service lane. 7. A police officer from the police station that had received the notification repeatedly attempted to contact the applicant by phone, in line with the relevant decree issued by the Minister of the Interior on police tasks related to securing public order at major events, in order to arrange for a meeting. Despite making several attempts and leaving messages, however, he could not reach him. 8. On 9 October 2009 the head of the Budapest Police Department banned the demonstration on the grounds that traffic could not be diverted to alternative routes (section 8(1) of the Assembly Act). In the decision, he referred to Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 11 of the Convention and Decision no. 55/2001.AB of the Constitutional Court. 9. The applicant sought a judicial review of the decision within the statutory three-day time-limit. 10. On 15 October 2009 the Budapest Regional Court dismissed the applicant’s case. It noted that in assessing whether or not traffic could be diverted to other routes, the authority had reckoned on the participation of some 200 demonstrators, as per the applicant’s notification, and that it had established that lawful parking and traffic circulation in the neighbourhood would become impossible should the event take place. The court agreed with the police’s decision in that although the right to assembly was a constitutional fundamental right, it was not absolute and must not give rise to a violation of the fundamental rights of others, and could therefore be restricted. The court was satisfied that the decision had been lawful as the police had adequately established the facts, complied with the procedural rules and applied clear assessment criteria, and the assessment of the evidence had been logical.