Animal Defenders International v United Kingdom
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''Animal Defenders International v United Kingdom''
013 013 is a music venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The venue opened in 1998 and replaced the ''Noorderligt'', the ''Bat Cave'' and the ''MuziekKantenWinkel''. 013 is the largest popular music venue in the southern Netherlands. There are two concer ...
ECHR 362 is
United Kingdom constitutional law The United Kingdom constitutional law concerns the governance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. With the oldest continuous political system on Earth, the British constitution is not contained in a single code but princ ...
and a UK, European and
international human rights International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, ag ...
case, on political spending at elections. It held that the United Kingdom's ban on spending money on political advertising, under the
Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...
section 321(2), was fully compatible with freedom of expression under the ECHR article 10. While reflecting most of the election laws in the democratic world, the case stands in heavy contrast to '' Buckley v. Valeo'' and '' Citizens United v. FEC'', as decided by majorities of the
US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
, as well as '' Australian Capital Television v Commonwealth'' as decided by the majority of the High Court of Australia.


Facts

The UK's
Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...
section 321(2) bans political and industrial dispute related adverts.
Animal Defenders International Animal Defenders International (ADI), founded 1990, has offices in US, UK, Colombia, Peru and South Africa; education and public awareness campaigns to protect animals in captivity and wild animals and their environments. ADI 's campaigns focus on ...
had an advertisement, not offensive, which was themed 'My Mate's a Primate'. The
Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) was a non-governmental organisation which until the end of 2007 pre-approved most British television advertising. The work of the BACC has been taken over by Clearcast. BACC approval was applied b ...
refused to let it show because it was deemed to fall within the prohibition on political advertising. They said this breached their ECHR article 10 right to freedom of expression.


Judgment


House of Lords

The House of Lords held unanimously that there was no breach of ECHR article 10, because the Communications Act 2003 was designed to level the playing field of expression, and therefore empower everyone's freedom of expression to the utmost. Giving the leading judgment, Lord Bingham said the only issue (not interference, not legitimate aim pursued) was whether the restriction was '
necessary in a democratic society __NOTOC__ "Necessary in a democratic society" is a test found in Articles 8–11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides that the state may impose restrictions of these rights only if such restrictions are "necessary in a democra ...
'. If views are debated then truth prevails over time, and the law was to ensure equality of debate. If parties can buy coverage proportionate to their resources, this would distort. The case of '' VgT Verein gegen Tierfabriken v Switzerland''(2002) 34 EHRR 4 was considered, but found to be inapplicable to the British context, where the full strength of arguments against money in politics was considered. Lord Scott, while concurring with the result, dissented on one point at paragraph 44, by suggesting that ECHR cases were not actually binding on the UK courts. Baroness Hale gave a concurring judgment. Lord Carswell and
Lord Neuberger David Edmond Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury (; born 10 January 1948) is an English judge. He served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2017. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until the House of L ...
concurred with Lord Bingham.


European Court of Human Rights

By a bare majority (9:8), the European Court of Human Rights held the ban on political advertising under the
Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...
section 321(2) was fully compatible with ECHR article 10. The majority reasoned as follows. In various dissents, a minority of the court, while stressing that money should never buy elections, objected to a total ban on spending.


See also

*
Campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political a ...
and
Political finance Political finance covers all funds that are raised and spent for political purposes. Such purposes include all political contests for voting by citizens, especially the election campaigns for various public offices that are run by parties and cand ...
* UK corporate law *'' Harper v. Canada''
004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * Lauda Ai ...
SCR 827 *'' Buckley v Valeo'', *'' Citizens United v FEC'', US (2010) *'' McCutcheon v. FEC'' (2014

*'' R (ProLife Alliance) v. BBC'' 003UKHL 23, BBC could refuse to broadcast graphic footage for an anti-abortion political party under the
Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
s 6(1)(a) *
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important pa ...
Schs 9 and 10 *
Companies Act 2006 The Companies Act 2006 (c 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which forms the primary source of UK company law. The Act was brought into force in stages, with the final provision being commenced on 1 October 2009. It largely ...
ss 362–379


Notes

{{reflist Human rights case law United Kingdom constitutional case law