Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi v. Turkey, No. 19920/13, ECtHR (Second Section), 26 April 2016

Confiscation of opposition political parties’ assets. Inspection of political parties’ expenditure.

Art. 11 ECHR

Having regard to the important role played by political parties in democratic societies, any legal regulations which may have the effect of interfering with their freedom of association, such as those which regulate the inspection of their expenditure, have to be couched in terms that provide a reasonable and unambiguous indication as to how those provisions will be interpreted and applied.

(In the present case, the Turkish Constitutional Court ordered the confiscation of a substantial part of the assets of Turkey’s main opposition party).

The ECtHR unanimously found that, in the present case, the Turkish Constitutional Court’s decisions had infringed the applicant party’s right to freedom of association under article 11 of the Convention.