Religion – Weltanschauung – Recht [ RWR ]

The applicants, Panayote Dimitras, Andrea Gilbert, Nikolaos Mylonas, Grigoris Vallianatos, Evangelia Vlami, Antonia Papadopoulou, Nafsika Papanikolatou and Dimitris Tsabrounis, are Greek nationals who were born respectively in 1953, 1947, 1958, 1956, 1961, 1977, 1955 and 1966 and live in Glyka Nera Attikis (Greece). As members of Greek Helsinki Monitor, a non-governmental organisation active in the field of human rights protection, they took part in 48 sets of criminal proceedings concerning human rights issues in 2009 and 2010. They complain about being obliged in the context of those proceedings to reveal their (non-Orthodox) religious convictions when taking the oath in court.

They rely on Articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life), 9 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion), 13 (right to an effective remedy) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination). They also allege, under Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial), that the presence of religious symbols in courtrooms and the fact that Greek judges are Orthodox Christians give cause to doubt their impartiality.

Press release ECHR 001 (2013) 02/01/2013