Chapter 7 Key facts checklists

Chapter 7 Key facts checklists

Freedom of religion and expression
  • Freedom of religion and expression are essential to democratic society.
  • They are qualified rights as individual rights may impinge on the rights of others.
  • Under Article 9 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) the right to hold or not hold a belief is absolute; the right to manifest a belief is qualified.
  • The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will first decide if there has been manifestation of belief. It has been restrictive in interpretation, especially in the workplace and education.
  • Article 10 has been interpreted as including views that shock and disturb; however, it has excluded some forms of hate speech.
  • State restriction of expression must be justified. This will depend on issues such as the type of expression, source of expression, and who/what the expression is concerned with.
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