RIGHT TO ASSEMBLY IN THE CONTEXT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: EUROPEAN APPROACH

Santrauka

This article focuses the attention to the right to peaceful assembly and the freedom of expression in the European region, basically, the region that is covered by the European Convention For the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter The European Convention on Human Rights, or the Convention), which was signed on 4 November 1950 in the scope of the Council of Europe. Without a broad guarantee of the rights to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression protected by all governmental institutions and independent courts there could be no democratic country in full meaning of this word. The Article 11 of the Convention foresees that ―Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests. The protection given by Article11 extends to any assembly, notwithstanding its content, disseminated by any individual, group as long as it is peaceful. As a qualified right it is for the concerned persons to establish the activity that they wish to carry out or that is being restricted falls within the protection of Article 11 Paragraph 1 and that there has been an interference with it. The object of the research is the content of the right to peaceful assembly, the obligations of the states in respect of this right and
possible derogations in the conditions of public safety protection. The objective of this research therefore is to disclose the scope of right to freedom of assembly foreseen in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and to discuss the possible circumstances in which a state may legitimately interfere with the exercise of the freedom of assembly.