Case of Bayev and Others v. Russia

Abstract

The case concerned a complaint brought by three gay rights activists about legislation in Russia banning the promotion of homosexuality, also know as the "gay propaganda law". In a series of legislative acts -most recently in 2013- "promoting non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors was made an affence punishable by a fine. As a protest against these laws, the three activists had staged demonstrations between 2009 and 2012 . They werw subsequently found guilty of administrative offences and given fines.In the case of Bayev and Others v. Russia, the Europan Court of Human Rights held (by six votes to one) that there had been a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in conjunction with Article 10 of the Convention.The Court found in particular that, although the laws in guestion aimed primarily at protecting minors, the limits of those laws had not been clearly defined and their application had been arbitrary. Moreover, the verypurpose of the laws and the way they were formulated and applied in the applicants case hadbeen discriminatory and, overall, served no legitimate public interest.