MINELRES: ECHR: Silesian association seeks recognition as a national minority party

[MINELRES moderator]

381a(2002)
18.07.2002

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Press release issued by the Registrar

GORZELIK AND OTHERS v. POLAND REFERRED TO GRAND CHAMBER

The case Gorzelik and Others v. Poland (application no. 44158/98) has
been referred to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights
under Article 43 [1] of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In its Chamber judgment of 20 December 2001 the Court held, unanimously,
that there had been no violation of Article 11 (right to association) in
the case.

Summary of the facts
The applicants, all Polish nationals, are Silesians from Upper Silesia.
They are: Jerzy Gorzelik, born in 1971, who is a university teacher
residing in Katowice; Rudolf Kolodziejczyk, born in 1940, who is an
economist residing in Rybnik; and Erwin Sowa, born in 1944, who is a
steelworker residing in Katowice.

The case concerns an attempt by the applicants and 190 others to form an
association called the "Union of People of Silesian Nationality"
(Zwiazek Ludnosci Narodowosci Slaskiej). The Polish authorities refused
to register the association on the ground that both the intended name
and certain provisions of the union's memorandum of association, which
characterised Silesians as a "national minority", implied that their
real intention was to circumvent the provisions of the electoral law.
Also, had the members of the Union been recognised as a "national
minority", they would automatically have gained unqualified and legally
enforceable privileges.

Complaint
The applicants complain that the decision not to register their
association violated their right to freedom of association, guaranteed
under Article 11 of the Convention.

Procedure
The application was lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights
on 18 June 1998 and registered on 29 October 1998. The case was
transmitted to the European Court of Human Rights on 1 November 1998 and
a hearing was held on 17 May 2001. It was declared admissible the same
day.

Chamber judgment
In its Chamber judgment the Court initially observed that it was not its
task to express an opinion on whether or not the Silesians were a
"national minority".

It went on to note that the authorities' concerns did not seem to have
lacked a reasonable basis. Paragraph 30 of the memorandum of association
stated that "The Union is an organisation of the Silesian national
minority". The words "organisation", "national" and "minority" were
precisely those found in section 5(1) of the Law on Parliamentary
Elections, laying down conditions for exemption from the threshold of
votes required to participate in the distribution of seats in
Parliament. This coincidence, together with the name proposed for the
applicants' association, gave the impression that in future the members
of the association might aspire to stand in elections.

The Court considered that the applicants could easily have dispelled the
doubts voiced by the authorities, in particular by slightly changing the
name of their association and by sacrificing, or amending, a single
provision of the memorandum of association. Those alterations would not,
in the Court's view, have had harmful consequences for the Union's
existence as an association and would not have prevented its members
from achieving their objectives. Pluralism and democracy were based on a
compromise that required various concessions by individuals and groups
of individuals, who must sometimes be prepared to limit some of their
freedoms so as to ensure the greater stability of the country as a
whole. This was particularly true regarding the electoral system, which
was of paramount importance for any democratic State.

Considering that the Polish authorities had acted reasonably, in order
to protect the country's electoral system, the Court held, unanimously,
that there had been no violation of Article 11.

***

Further information about the Court can be found on its Internet site
http://www.echr.coe.int

Registry of the European Court of Human Rights
F - 67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Contacts: Emma Hellyer (telephone: (0)3 90 21 42 15)
St�phanie Klein (telephone: (0)3 88 41 21 54)
Fax: (0)3 88 41 27 91

The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to
deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human
Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing
the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.

[1] Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within
three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case
may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the
17-member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five
judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting
the interpretation or application of the Convention or its Protocols, or
a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber
will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the
panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes
final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the
three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not
intend to make a request to refer.