The right to peaceful assembly in the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61345/1339-7915.2024.5.24Keywords:
right to peaceful assembly, fundamental rights, Constitutional Court of Ukraine, legal positionsAbstract
The article analyzes the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the right to peaceful assembly. Despite their small number (two decisions of the Court are devoted to the right to peaceful assembly), they are considered to be landmark and have been serving as a reference for the national legal system for many years.
The authors point out that the concept of the right to peaceful assembly in the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is revealed from different sides. First of all, the Court’s decisions define the general (inalienability, inviolability, and guarantee by the Basic Law of Ukraine) and special (conscious nature; participation of a group of persons; special purpose (expression of common views and interests); peaceful (non-violent) nature; public place, etc. The Court also substantiated the existence of a link between the right to peaceful assembly and other rights and freedoms, e. g. freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to free expression of one’s views and beliefs, the right of access to information, etc. The author points out that such a position of the Court is in line with international and European practice, where the right to freedom of assembly is traditionally associated with the rights aimed at expressing communication between a person and society or the state.
The authors have shown that the Court is most interested in the issue of the timeframe for notifying the authorities of a peaceful assembly. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine consciously avoids setting specific deadlines (one day, 10 days, one hour), instead clearly defining the criteria that must be met by the advance notification. In general, the Court’s decisions have confirmed the notification rather than permissive nature of peaceful assemblies. This provision remains relevant even during martial law.
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