Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) v. Germany, dec., No. 55977/13, ECtHR (Fifth Section), 4 October 2016

Infringement of a political party’s legal rights. De facto ban of a far-right political party. Right to an effective remedy.

Art. 13 ECHR
Art. 3 Prot. No. 1 ECHR

The application of a political party alleging it had been stigmatised as a far-right and unconstitutional party and that this has resulted in a de facto ban on its existence is manifestly ill-founded if sufficient remedies were available to the applicant at national level which enabled it to effectively enforce the substance of its rights and freedoms protected under the Convention.

(In the case at hand, the Court unanimously declared inadmissible the application lodged by a far-right political party which complained about a wide range of infringements of its legal rights in Germany, including the dismissal of its members from working in the public sector, the inability of the party to open bank accounts and the prevention of its candidates from standing in elections).