Human Rights of Armed Forces Personnel The government had argued that the prohibition under the Defence Code on membership of occupation groups was necessary to preserve the order and discipline of the Armed Forces. The Court found, however, that this was not sufficient to justify an absolute prohibition on joining a professional association founded for the purpose of defending the members’ professional and moral interests. The Court reiterated that the right to form and join a trade union was one of the essential elements of freedom of association. It held that: “[L]awful restrictions […] must be construed strictly and confined to the exercise of the right in question [and] must not impair the very essence of the right to organise; a mere suppression of the right to organise was not a “measure necessary in a democratic society.”255 The prohibition affected the essence of the freedom guaranteed under Article 11 of the Convention, rather than its exercise and, consequently, violated the Convention. The Court reached the same conclusion in a separate judgment adopted on the same day, ADEFDROMIL v. France, which concerned another professional association for members of the Armed Forces, the Association de Défense des Droits des Militaires. In this case, the Ministry of Defence had issued a note prohibiting existing and potential members from continuing their membership or joining ADEFDROMIL. The approach of the European Court of Human Rights has also influenced the interpretation of the right of association under the ESC by the European Committee of Social Rights.256 National constitutional courts have also tended to favour proportionate, rather than total restrictions. In 2000, Poland’s Constitutional Court ruled that a ban on membership of trade unions in the military was constitutional, provided that there were alternative means of exercising the right to freedom of association.257 In Spain, the Constitutional Court ruled in 2000 that members of the Armed Forces had a constitutional right to participate in bodies representing their social and economic interests, provided that these bodies did not intend to engage in collective action.258 116 255 Ibid, paras. 60-61. 256 European Committee of Social Rights, European Organisation of Military Associations and Trade Unions (EUROMIL) v. Ireland, Complaint 112/2014 ESC, decision of 12 February 2018. See also Box 7.6. 257 Polish Constitutional Court, Judgment K 26/28 of 7 March 2000. 258 Nolte, op. cit., note 8, p. 84. A challenge to the Italian legislation was heard by the Corte Constituzionale in April 2018, and a judgment is pending. See: “Soon Trade Unionism in the Italian Military?”, EUROMIL, http:// euromil.org/soon-trade-unionism-italian-military/.