In the case of Drozd v. Poland the Court held that there had been a violation of the freedom of expression.

The case concerned a one-year ban imposed on the applicants on entering the Sejm (the Polish Parliament’s lower house). They were banned for displaying a banner – which read “Defend Independent Courts” – in the grounds of the Sejm during a protest against the Government’s planned reforms to the judiciary.

The Court found that a distinction should be made between that incident, which had occurred outside the Sejm building, and incidents inside which interfered directly with the orderly conduct of parliamentary debate. It also found that the ban had been given without any procedural safeguards. The applicants had simply received letters from the Head of Parliament Security informing them that they were banned, without any clear procedure for challenging the measure.

Press release