QA-15, 3 June 2014

Switzerland’s request for the referral of the judgment delivered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the Perinçek v. Switzerland case on 17 December 2013 has been accepted yesterday.

While the ECtHR’s judgment of 17 December 2013 endorsed the principle of “the protection of the freedom of expression which is the fundamental element of societies committed to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law”, Switzerland has brought the matter before the Grand Chamber on entirely political motives.

We are confident that the Grand Chamber will be guided by exclusively legal considerations when hearing the case. One cannot imagine an outcome different than the Chamber judgment of 17 December 2013 considering the jurisprudence of the ECtHR and the fundamental principles of law.

Thus, once again, this will be an adequate response against initiatives attempting to politicize history and law, and will strongly confirm that freedom of expression, which is the building block of democratic societies, is under protection.