FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3 ... - Giurisprudenza

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204 FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3/2008 conscience and religion, and the duty of the national authorities to impart to the public information on matters of general concern. 97. The Court notes in the first place that the Basic Law empowers the Government to collect and disseminate information of their own motion. In reviewing the constitutionality of this activity, the Federal Constitutional Court has developed case-law limiting the Government's power in this field. The Government, in fulfilling the functions assumed by it, must take care that information is conveyed in a neutral manner when dealing with religious and philosophical convictions and is bound by the standards inherent in the proportionality principle. Even when circumscribed in this way, such information clearly cannot exclude on the part of the Government certain assessments capable of encroaching on the religious or philosophical sphere. 98. Having regard not only to the particular circumstances of the case but also to its background, the Court notes that at the material time the increasing number of new religious and ideological movements generated conflict and tension in German society, raising questions of general importance. The contested statements and the other material before the Court show that the German Government, by providing people in good time with explanations it considered useful at that time, was aiming to settle a burning public issue and attempting to warn citizens against phenomena it viewed as disturbing, for example, the appearance of numerous new religious movements and their attraction for young people. The public authorities wished to enable people, if necessary, to take care of themselves and not to land themselves or others in difficulties solely on account of lack of knowledge. 99. The Court takes the view that such a power of preventive intervention on the State's part is also consistent with the Contracting Parties' positive obligations under Article 1 of the Convention to secure the rights and freedoms of persons within their jurisdiction. Those obligations relate not only to any interference that may result from acts or omissions imputable to agents of the State or occurring in public establishments, but also to interference imputable to private individuals within non- State entities (see, mutatis mutandis, Calvelli and Ciglio v. Italy
FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3/2008 [GC], no. 32967/96, § 49, ECHR 2002-I, and Refah Partisi (the Welfare Party) and Others v. Turkey [GC], nos. 41340/98, 41342/98, 41343/98 and 41344/98, § 103, ECHR 2003-II). 100. An examination of the Government's activity in dispute establishes further that it in no way amounted to a prohibition of the applicant associations' freedom to manifest their religion or belief. The Court further observes that the Federal Constitutional Court, in its decision given on 26 June 2002, carefully analysed the impugned statements and prohibited the use of the adjectives “destructive” and “pseudo-religious” and the allegation that members of the movement were manipulated as infringing the principle of religious neutrality. The remaining terms, notably the naming of the applicant associations' groups as “sects” , “youth sects” or “psycho-sects”, even if they had a pejorative note, were used at the material time quite indiscriminately for any kind of non-mainstream religion. The Court further notes that the Government undisputedly refrained from further using the term “sect” in their information campaign following the recommendation contained in the expert report on “so-called sects and psycho-cults” issued in 1998 (see paragraph 32, above). Under these circumstances, the Court considers 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. 101. In the light of the foregoing and having regard to the margin of appreciation left to the national authorities, whose duty it is in a democratic society also to consider, within the limits of their jurisdiction, the interests of society as a whole, the Court finds that the interference in issue was justified in principle and proportionate to the aim pursued. There has accordingly been no violation of Article 9 of the Convention. IV. FURTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF THE CONVENTION 102. The applicant associations further complained that by defaming their religious community and embarking on a repressive campaign against them, the Government had 205
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SUMMARY FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diri
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FOGLI DI LAVORO per il Diritto internazionale 3 ... - Giurisprudenza

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