The European court ruled that what had happened to Herbert Wille amounted to a violation of his right to free speech.
Liechtenstein’s government had argued that the prince’s sanction had been justified because Dr Wille had made what they said was a highly political statement attacking the country’s constitution.
But the court was not convinced.
It acknowledged that Dr Wille’s lecture had political implications but could not accept that this alone should have stopped him from speaking on the subject.
The European court also noted that the government (of which Dr Wille had been a member) had put forward a similar view of the constitution in a proposed bill in 1991-92. A majority in the parliament had accepted the bill but the prince had refused to sign it into law.
The court therefore found that the government had failed to show how the interference with Dr Wille’s right to free speech was “necessary in a democratic society.” In the court’s view, the prince’s action was “disproportionate”.
Moreover, there was no way Dr Wille could have got justice in his own country because Liechtenstein’s constitutional court had never in its history agreed to hear a complaint brought against the prince.
Source link : https://www.coe.int/en/web/impact-convention-human-rights/-/free-speech-ruling-leads-to-checks-on-liechtenstein-prince-s-power
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Publish date : 2023-10-03 20:43:15
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