The case of Bradshaw and Others v. the United Kingdom concerned complaints that, despite the existence of credible allegations that Russia had sought to interfere in the UK’s democratic elections, including the 2019 general election, the Government had failed to fulfil its duty to investigate those allegations and had not put in place an effective legal and institutional framework in order to protect against the risk of such interference.

The Court held that there had been no violation of the right to free elections. States had considerable latitude in their choice of how to counter such threats. While there had undoubtedly been shortcomings in the UK’s initial response, there had been two thorough and independent investigations, and the Government had since taken a number of legislative and operational measures to counter disinformation efforts and protect the democratic integrity of the UK.

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