Sidiropoulos and Others v. Greece, No. 26695/95, ECtHR (Chamber), 10 July 1998

National courts’ refusal to register a cultural association suspected of undermining the country’s territorial integrity.

Art. 11 ECHR

1. That citizens should be able to form a legal entity in order to act collectively in a field of mutual interest is one of the most important aspects of the right to freedom of association, without which that right would be deprived of any meaning. The way in which national legislation enshrines this freedom and its practical application by the authorities reveal the state of democracy in the country concerned.

2. The inhabitants of a country’s region are entitled to form associations in order to preserve and develop the traditions and culture of a minority, for historical as well as economic reasons.

(In the present case, the European Court found that Greek courts’ refusal to register a Macedonian cultural association on the ground that it supposedly intended to dispute the Greek identity of Macedonia and its inhabitants and to undermine Greece’s territorial integrity violated article 11 of the Convention).