CASE OF BOWMAN v. THE UNITED KINGDOM

(141/1996/760/961)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

19 February 1998

The present judgment is subject to editorial revision before its reproduction in final form in Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998. These reports are obtainable from the publisher Carl Heymanns Verlag KG (Luxemburger Straße 449, D-50939 Köln), who will also arrange for their distribution in association with the agents for certain countries as listed overleaf.

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SUMMARY1

Judgment delivered by a Grand Chamber

United Kingdom – prosecution following distribution of leaflets by abortion campaigner prior to general election (Representation of the People Act 1983, section 75)

I.government’s preliminary objection (applicant’s status as “victim”)

Prosecution brought against applicant – indication to her that she ran risk of being prosecuted again in future unless she modified her conduct – in these circumstances she could claim to have been directly affected by law and therefore to be “victim” within meaning of Article 25 § 1 of the Convention.

Conclusion: objection dismissed (unanimously).

II.article 10 of the convention

A.Existence of restriction

Prohibition in section 75 of 1983 Act of expenditure in excess of GBP 5 by unauthorised persons on publications etc. during election period amounted to restriction on freedom of expression.

B.“Prescribed by law”

Restriction was “prescribed by law”.

C.Legitimate aim

Protection of rights of others, namely candidates for election and electorate.

D.“Necessary in a democratic society”

States have margin of appreciation in striking balance between rights to free elections and freedom of expression.

Section 75 of 1983 Act operated for all practical purposes as total barrier to applicant’s publishing information with a view to influencing voters in favour of anti-abortion candidate – not necessary to set limit on expenditure as low as GBP 5 to achieve aim of securing equality between candidates – restriction disproportionate.

Conclusion: violation (fourteen votes to six).

III.article 50 of the convention

A.Non-pecuniary damage: finding of a violation sufficient.

B.Costs and expenses: partial reimbursement of amount claimed.

Conclusion: respondent State to pay specified sum to applicant (unanimously).

court’s case-law referred to

6.11.1980, Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom (no. 1); 8.7.1986, Lingens v. Austria; 2.3.1987, Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt v. Belgium; 26.10.1988, Norris v. Ireland

In the case of Bowman v. the United Kingdom2,

The European Court of Human Rights, sitting, pursuant to Rule 51 of Rules of Court A3, as a Grand Chamber composed of the following judges:

MrR. Bernhardt, President,
MrThór Vilhjálmsson,
MrL.-E. Pettiti,

MrB. Walsh,
MrR. Macdonald,
MrC. Russo,

MrA. Spielmann,

MrN. Valticos,
MrsE. Palm,
MrA.N. Loizou,

SirJohn Freeland,

MrA.B. Baka,
MrM.A. Lopes Rocha,
MrL. Wildhaber,
MrD. Gotchev,
MrP.Jambrek,

MrU. Lōhmus,
MrE. Levits,
MrJ. Casadevall,
MrP. van Dijk,
and also of MrH. Petzold, Registrar, and MrP.J. Mahoney, Deputy Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 25 October 1997 and 29 January 1998,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last-mentioned date:

PROCEDURE

1.The case was referred to the Court by the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) and by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“the Government”) on 19October 1996 and on 7January 1997 respectively, within the three-month period laid down by Article32 §1 and Article 47 of the Convention. It originated in an application (no.24839/94) against the United Kingdom lodged with the Commission under Article 25 by MrsPhyllis Bowman, a British citizen, on 11March 1994.

The Commission’s request referred to Articles44 and 48 of the Convention and to the declaration whereby the United Kingdom recognised the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court (Article46). The object of the request and of the Government’s application was to obtain a decision as to whether the facts of the case disclosed a breach by the respondent State of its obligations under Article10 of the Convention.

2.In response to the enquiry made in accordance with Rule33 §3 (d) of Rulesof CourtA, the applicant stated that she wished to take part in the proceedings and designated the lawyer who would represent her (Rule30).

3.The Chamber to be constituted included ex officio SirJohn Freeland, the elected judge of British nationality (Article43 of the Convention), and MrR. Bernhardt, the Vice-President of the Court (Rule21 §4 (b)). On 29October 1996, in the presence of the Registrar, the President of the Court, MrR. Ryssdal, drew by lot the names of the other seven members, namely MrL.-E. Pettiti, MrB. Walsh, MrC. Russo, MrA. Spielmann, MrA.N. Loizou, MrM.A. Lopes Rocha and MrP.Jambrek (Article43 in fine of the Convention and Rule21 §5).

4.As President of the Chamber (Rule21 §6), MrBernhardt, acting through the Registrar, consulted the Agent of the Government, the applicant’s representative and the Delegate of the Commission on the organisation of the proceedings (Rules37 §1 and 38). Pursuant to the order made in consequence and an extension of the time-limit granted at the request of the applicant, the Registrar received the Government’s memorial on 3June 1997 and the applicant’s memorial on 18July 1997.

5.In accordance with the decision of the President, the hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 27August 1997. The Court had held a preparatory meeting beforehand.

There appeared before the Court:

(a)for the Government
MrD. Bentley, Foreign and Commonwealth Office,Agent,
MrD. Pannick QC,
MrD. Anderson,Counsel,
MrR. Clayton, Home Office, Adviser;

(b)for the Commission
MrL. Loucaides, Delegate;

(c)for the applicant
MrG. Robertson QC,Counsel,
MrD. Price,Solicitor.

The Court heard addresses by MrLoucaides, MrPannick and MrRobertson.

6.Following deliberations held on 29 August 1997 the Chamber decided to relinquish jurisdiction forthwith in favour of a Grand Chamber (Rule51).

7.The Grand Chamber to be constituted included ex officio MrRyssdal, the President of the Court, and Mr Bernhardt, the Vice-President, together with the other members and substitute judges of the original Chamber, the latter being MrsE. Palm and Mr J. Casadevall (Rule 51 § 2 (a) and (b)). On 30August 1997 the President, in the presence of the Registrar, drew by lot the names of the nine additional judges needed to complete the Grand Chamber, namely Mr Thór Vilhjálmsson, Mr R. Macdonald, Mr N. Valticos, MrA.B.Baka, Mr L. Wildhaber, Mr D. Gotchev, Mr U. Lōhmus, MrE.Levits and Mr P. van Dijk (Rule 51 § 2 (c)).

8.Having taken note of the agreement of the Agent of the Government and the concurring opinions of the Delegate of the Commission and of the applicant, the Court decided on 25 October 1997 that it was not necessary to hold a further hearing following the relinquishment of jurisdiction by the Chamber (Rule38, taken together with Rule51 §6).

9.Subsequently, Mr Bernhardt replaced Mr Ryssdal, who was unable to take part in the further consideration of the case, as President of the Grand Chamber (Rule 21 § 5).

AS TO THE FACTS

I.THE circumstances of the case

10.MrsPhyllis Bowman was born in 1926 and lives in London. She is the executive director of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (“SPUC”), an organisation of approximately 50,000 members which is opposed to abortion and human embryo experimentation and seeks changes to the present United Kingdom law which permits abortion up to twenty-two weeks and embryo experimentation up to fourteen days.

11.The major political parties have no policies with regard to abortion and embryo experimentation: these are regarded as moral issues and members of Parliament are allowed to vote on proposed legislation according to their consciences. MrsBowman and SPUC therefore took the view that, if electors were to be in a position to bring about changes to the law through their choice of representative, it was important for them to be informed of the opinions of candidates standing for election with regard to abortion and related issues.

12.In the period immediately before the parliamentary elections in April1992, MrsBowman therefore arranged to have some one and a half million leaflets distributed in constituencies throughout the United Kingdom, including, in the constituency of Halifax, 25,000 copies of a leaflet which read as follows:

“We are not telling you how to vote, but it is essential for you to check on Candidates’ voting intentions on abortion and on the use of the human embryo as a guinea-pig.

Terry Martin, Conservative.
MrMartin has publicly declared his firm commitment to defending the unborn child. If elected, he would vote to tighten the grounds for abortion to stop abortion on demand. He would vote to stop abortion after 24 weeks, as the law currently allows abortion up to birth for handicapped babies and on other grounds. Would vote to stop the creation and use of human embryos as guinea-pigs for drug testing.

Alison Mahon, Labour.
MrsMahon is a leading pro-abortionist. As an MP she voted to allow abortion up to birth for handicapped babies. She voted for the compulsory enrolment on a published register of doctors with a conscientious objection to abortion despite warnings that it could be used as a blacklist. She also voted to allow human embryos to be used as guinea-pigs in programmes including the testing of drugs and other experiments.

Ian Howell, Liberal Democrat.
If elected, MrHowell would vote for the tightening of the grounds for abortion to stop abortion on demand. He would vote to reduce the time-limit to 24 weeks or less, where the law currently allows abortion up to birth for handicapped babies and on other grounds. He would vote to protect human embryos from being used as guinea-pigs in research programmes.

THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE UNBORN CHILD”

On the reverse side of the leaflet, together with a picture marked “an unborn baby ten weeks after conception”, was printed:

“The First Weeks of Life
Day 1: Conception – sperm and ovum meet in fertilisation. Genetic make-up complete. Colour of eyes, hair, sex and even build determined. A unique individual is present in the womb’s fallopian tube.
Day 12: Has travelled to the womb and implanted there.
Day 17: Development of own blood cells.
Day 21: Heart starts to beat. This is at least as dramatic as birth, but far less dramatic than fertilisation.
Day 26: Foundation of central nervous system established.
Day 30: Regular blood flow within closed vascular system. Ears and nose start to develop.
Day 42: Skeleton and reflexes present. Liver, kidneys and lungs formed. Responds to touch around the mouth.
Day 45: Electrical brainwave patterns can be recorded.
Day 56: All organs functioning except the lungs; the baby only has to grow and mature now, just as a child grows into an adult.
Day 65: The baby can make a fist and will grasp an object stroking his palm; leaps up and down in the womb with movements co-ordinated.
Week 12: Entire surface of the body sensitive to touch.
Week 16: Baby is half birth length; the heart pumps 50 pints of blood daily.
Week 28: Eyes open. Baby can hear mother’s digestive processes, heartbeat and her voice, as well as sounds outside her body.
9th Month: Birth – just another stage in an already well-advanced process. From the above it is clear that the baby can feel pain at a very early stage. We are, therefore, destroying babies painfully up to 6 months after conception, and in some cases, such as handicap, up to birth.”

13.MrsBowman was charged with an offence under subsections75(1) and (5) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (“the 1983 Act”), which prohibits expenditure of more than five pounds sterling (“GBP”) by an unauthorised person during the period before an election on conveying information to electors with a view to promoting or procuring the election of a candidate (see paragraphs17–19 below).

14.At MrsBowman’s trial at Southwark Crown Court on 27September 1993, the judge directed her acquittal, because the summons charging her with the offence had not been issued within one year of the alleged prohibited expenditure, in accordance with the time-limit stipulated in section176 of the 1983 Act. The proceedings were, nonetheless, reported in the press.

15.In 1979, MrsBowman had been convicted of an offence under similar legislation in respect of a leaflet distributed prior to the Ilford North by-election and in 1982 she had also been convicted in respect of a leaflet distributed during the elections for the European Parliament. On both occasions she was ordered to pay a fine and the prosecution costs.

II.Relevant domestic law and practice

A.Parliamentary elections

16.The date of a general election is chosen by the incumbent Prime Minister and is normally announced between four and six weeks before polling day.

17.For electoral purposes the United Kingdom is divided into constituencies. Each constituency is represented by a single member of Parliament, the person who received the greatest number of votes in his or her constituency. Most candidates are selected by the main, national political parties, although some stand as independent. A candidate’s nomination for election must be signed by ten people registered to vote in the constituency. Each candidate must deposit GBP 500 with the constituency returning officer. If he or she does not receive at least 5% of the votes validly cast, this deposit will be forfeited.

B.Control of election expenditure

18.Parliamentary candidates in the United Kingdom receive no State funding for their campaigns. To safeguard the position of candidates without access to substantial resources, the amount of expenses which may be incurred by a candidate before, during or after an electoral campaign is controlled by statute (1983 Act, section 76). The amount varies slightly depending on the size of the constituency, but the average is currently GBP8,300. To ensure that this limit is not circumvented, all election expenditure by a candidate must go through an election agent, who is required to submit an account after the election (1983 Act, sections73, 76 and 81).

19.Under section75(1) of the 1983 Act, any expenditure incurred to promote the election of a candidate by any person other than the candidate or his or her agent is prohibited:

“No expenses shall, with a view to promoting or procuring the election of a candidate at an election, be incurred by any person other than the candidate, his election agent and persons authorised in writing by the election agent on account –
(a)of holding public meetings or organising any public display; or
(b)of issuing advertisements, circulars or publications; or
(c)of otherwise presenting to the electors the candidate or his views or the extent or nature of his backing or disparaging another candidate, but paragraph(c) of this subsectionshall not –
(i) restrict the publication of any matter relating to the election in a newspaper or other periodical or in a broadcast made by the British Broadcasting Corporation ... [or the Independent Broadcasting Authority];
(ii) apply to any expenses not exceeding in aggregate the sum of GBP 5.”