European Court dismisses Swiss unions’ claim against Covid-era demonstration ban
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will not intervene in a complaint brought by trade unions in Geneva over a ban on demonstrations introduced in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Grand Chamber of the Court issued its decision on Monday.
It ruled that a complaint brought by the umbrella organisation of Geneva trade unions, the CGAS, was inadmissible. The Grand Chamber ruled that the CGAS had not exhausted all legal remedies in Switzerland before it turned to the ECtHR.
In March 2022, the first instance of the ECtHR had ruled that the ban on demonstrations during the pandemic constituted a violation of the freedom of assembly and association under the European Convention on Human Rights.
+ European court rules against Swiss anti-Covid demo ban
At the time, the first ECtHR chamber concluded that the ban on gatherings of people in public spaces imposed by the Swiss government in mid-March 2020 was not proportionate to the objectives pursued. The Geneva trade unions filed a complaint because they had been banned from holding a Labour Day procession on May 1, 2020.
After the first-instance decision in 2022, the Swiss government had requested that the case be sent to the Grand Chamber.
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