Qualified rights 7. Qualified rights are those rights where the right is first asserted– for example, the guarantee of freedom of expression or freedom of association – and then permissible restrictions can be applied. The relevant Articles then go on to qualify the right and to explain the circumstances in which it can be lawful to interfere with it. 8. The presumption is that rights will be interpreted broadly and limitations interpreted strictly.78 9. The Human Rights Committee has noted ‘States Parties must refrain from violation of the rights recognized by the Covenant, and any restrictions on any of those rights must be permissible under the relevant provisions of the Covenant. Where such restrictions are made, States must demonstrate their necessity and only take such measures as are proportionate to the pursuance of legitimate aims in order to ensure continuous and effective protection of Covenant rights. In no case may the restrictions be applied or invoked in a manner that would impair the essence of a Covenant right’.79 10. Some of the rights in human rights treaties are qualified, namely, the right is first asserted– for example, the guarantee of freedom of expression or freedom of association – and then permissible restrictions can be applied. The relevant Articles then go on to qualify the right and to explain that it can be lawful to interfere with it if it is necessary in a democratic society to do so and that there is a legal basis for such an interference. Therefore, it can be lawful to place limits on the right to freedom of expression, the right to private life, the right to protest and join trades unions, and the right to manifest religious belief.80 11. To make lawful an interference with any qualified rights, the State must be able to satisfy the following:     It must be prescribed by law; It must be necessary to protect one of the grounds listed; The restrictions must be proportionate to the need for which they are limited; It must not ‘be imposed for discriminatory purposes or applied in a discriminatory manner’.81 Prescribed by law 12. To be lawful the restriction must be imposed by legislation or equivalent. It must be sufficiently certain and ‘use precise criteria and may not confer unfettered 78 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No.10, HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9, Vol.I (1983) paragraph 4; General Comment No.22, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, (1993) paragraph 8; General Comment No.27, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9 (1999), paragraphs 2 and 13; Communication No. 780/1997, V P Laptsevich v Belarus, 13 April 2000, paragraph 8.2. 79 General Comment No.31, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add/13 (2004), para 6. 80 For further discussion of these rights see sections X below. 81 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No.27, CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9 (1999). 34