CEDH · CASELAW;COMMUNICATEDCASES;ENG — 9 septembre 2024

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .s379BC09C { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s10950C61 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .s339D85E6 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s665E407E { margin-top:66pt; margin-bottom:14pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } Published on 30 September 2024   FIRST SECTION Application no. 30238/22 Gergely István GAZDA against Hungary lodged on 3 June 2022 communicated on 9 September 2024 SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE The application concerns the right to demonstrate and to freedom of expression during the Covid-19 pandemic. On 11 March 2020 the Hungarian Government adopted Decree   no.   40/2020 (III. 10.) introducing a special legal order and declaring a state of danger. On 16 March 2020 Governmental Decree no. 46/2020 was adopted (entering into force on 17 March 2020), setting out the specific measures to be put in place to prevent and fight the spread of the corona virus. Section 4 of the Decree introduced a ban to participate in assemblies. The ban, due to its numerous prolongations, was in effect until 14 June 2021. Two opposition politicians, Ms Szél and Mr Hadházy, and an opposition political party, Momentum Mozgalom , announced on Facebook a series of public gatherings to be held at the roundabout in central Budapest on a weekly basis between 20 April and 18 May 2020. The organisers announced that the assemblies would be contact-free in that the participants would pass through the roundabout in their cars using their car honks to demonstrate solidarity with the healthcare workers, demand widespread testing for the corona virus, support for small enterprises and transparent information. The applicant participated in the gathering on 11 May 2020, taking few rounds with his car at the roundabout and displaying a banner with the message: “Solidarity, humane crisis management”. On 4 June 2020 the Budapest I District Police Department established the applicant’s liability for minor violation of traffic rules and for infringement of Government Decree no. 46/2020 and fined him to 150,000 Hungarian forints (HUF, approximately 380 euros (EUR)). Following a hearing requested by the applicant, the Police Department issued a new decision on 19 August 2020, finding the applicant liable for the same offences and fining him the same amount. On 29 January 2021 the Pest Central District Court upheld the administrative decision. The applicant’s constitutional complaint was dismissed on 25 January 2022. The Constitutional Court held that the applicant’s conduct had not constituted the exercise of his right to freedom of expression and that at the material time there had been a general ban on public assemblies. The applicant complains under Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention that he has been found liable for breaching the general ban on participating in public assemblies and violating traffic rules by using his car honk at a public assembly. QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES 1.     Has there been an “interference” with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention or a “restriction” of his right to freedom of assembly under Article 11 of the Convention?   2.     If so, was that “interference”, respectively “restriction”, “prescribed by law” and “necessary in a democratic society” to attain a legitimate aim, as required by Article 10 § 2 and Article 11 § 2 of the Convention?