*****
In the light of all the foregoing, the Court concludes that, although the reasons
put forward by the Government in order to justify their interference with Mrs
Vogt's right to freedom of expression are certainly relevant, they are not
sufficient to establish convincingly that it was necessary in a democratic society
to dismiss her. Even allowing for a certain margin of appreciation, the
conclusion must be that to dismiss Mrs Vogt by way of disciplinary sanction
from her post as secondary-school teacher was disproportionate to the legitimate
aim pursued. There has accordingly been a violation of Article 10….
[...]
The applicant was dismissed from her post as a civil servant for having
persistently refused to dissociate herself from the DKP on the ground that in her
personal opinion membership of that party was not incompatible with her duty
of loyalty.
--Vogt v. Germany, ECHR, 26 September 1995 (paras. 61, 65).
*****
As the Court has said many times, there can be no democracy without pluralism.
It is for that reason that freedom of expression as enshrined in Article 10 is
applicable, subject to paragraph 2, not only to “information” or “ideas” that are
favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but
also to those that offend, shock or disturb.… The fact that their activities form
part of a collective exercise of freedom of expression in itself entitles political
parties to seek the protection of Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention.
--The United Communist Party of Turkey and Others v. Turkey, ECHR, 30
January 1998 (para. 43); see also The Socialist Party and Others v. Turkey, 25
May 1998 (para. 41); Freedom and Democracy Party (OZDEP) v. Turkey, 8
December 1999 (para. 37).
Inter-American System
The foregoing analysis … shows the extremely high value that the [American]
Convention places on freedom of expression. A comparison of Article 13 with
the relevant provisions of the European Convention (Article 10) and the
Covenant (Article 19) indicates clearly that the guarantees contained in the
American Convention regarding freedom of expression were designed to be
more generous and to reduce to a bare minimum restrictions impeding the free
circulation of ideas.
[…]
72
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