''Church of Scientology v. Sweden'' (8282/78) was a case decided by the European Commission of Human Rights in 1980.

Background

In 1975, a Swedish newspaper published certain statements made in the course of lecture by a professor of theology, including that "Scientology in the most untruthful movement there is. It is the cholera of spiritual life. That is how dangerous it is". Request by the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

to start proceedings against the publisher was rejected by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Decision

The commission declared the application inadmissible. Concerning Article 9 of the

Convention Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

( freedom of religion), it noted that ''the Commission does not exclude the possibility of criticism or 'agitation' against a church or religious group reaching such a level that it might endanger freedom of religion and where a tolerance of such behaviour by the authorities could engage State responsibility. However, the Commission does not consider that such an issue arises on the facts of the present case'' (Para. 5). Concerning Article 6 (access to court), the Commission reaffirmed that the right of an individual to protect his reputation can be regarded as a civil right protected by Article 6, but did not extend this protection to a group, when the national legislation didn't foresee that (Para. 19).

External links

EComHR decision (extracts)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church Of Scientology V. Sweden Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights European Court of Human Rights cases involving Sweden Free speech case law Scientology litigation 1980 in case law

Background

Decision

See also

External links