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''Leela Förderkreis e.V. and Others v. Germany'' (application No. 58911/00) was a case decided by the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
in 2008.


Facts

The applicants were religious or meditation associations belonging to the Osho movement. As part of their public relations work, State agencies characterised these associations as a "sect", "youth sect", "youth religion" and "psycho-sect". The government issued several warnings about the sect using adjectives like "destructive" and "pseudo-religious" to describe them, and the accusation was raised that their members are manipulated. The applicants claimed the Government's informational campaign was an unjustified interference under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom to exercise religion). The
Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its in ...
, after more than 11 years of consideration, decided that the use of the expressions "destructive", and "pseudo-religious" on the associations, and the allegation that they "manipulated their members", did not satisfy the requirements of constitutional law. However, it found that the Government was authorised to characterise the applicant associations’ movement as a "sect", "youth religion", "youth sect" and "psycho-sect" and was allowed to provide the public with adequate information about it.


Judgment

The Court held that the length of the proceedings was excessive and failed to meet the "reasonable time" requirement. Therefore, it has found a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...
(rights to fair trial), unanimously. Concerning allegations of violating Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion), the Court held that "the Government's statements as delimited by the Federal Constitutional Court, at least at the time they were made, did not entail overstepping the bounds of what a democratic State may regard as the public interest."ECtHR judgment in case No. 58911/00
(Paras. 100) Two judges, Trajkovska and Kalaydjieva, filed partially dissenting opinions, considering that Article 9 was violated (Kalaydjieva saw also Article 14 as violated).


References


External links


ECtHR judgment


{{DEFAULTSORT:Leela Forderkreis e.V. and Others v. Germany European Court of Human Rights cases involving Germany Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights