A club alleged violation of the freedom of expression following their denial of registration due to formal defects with their application - No Violation

Facts

Authors are Belarusian nationals and members of a club in support of the fulfilment of ICCPR decisions within Belarus. They filed to register their club as an association with the Ministry of Justice. This request was denied on technical grounds, including the lack of provision of a membership list. Belarusian courts upheld this decision, and authorities subsequently advised the parties of their right to resubmit their application with the formalistic defects in their application remedied. Authors complain of a violation of articles 22 (2) in conjunction with 2 (2).

Admissibility

The communication was deemed inadmissible in its entirety. The Committee found that article 22 does not preclude the State Party from rejecting applications which contain clear formal defects, and that the authors would not face an insurmountable burden by virtue of needing to correct and resubmit their application. As such, the communication is inadmissible.

 

By Justin Golden