SPONTANEOUS ASSEMBLIES: NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND PRECEDENTS FROM THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
The article examines spontaneous assemblies of people - those that are organized in response to some political or other important event, including other assemblies where the organizer (if there is one) is unable to meet the legal deadline for prior notification. In recent judgments, the European Court of Human Rights has stated that the right to hold spontaneous demonstrations may override the obligation to give prior notification to public assemblies. There are three different models of responding to spontaneous assemblies: 1) the right to spontaneous assemblies is not recognized and is not mentioned in national legislation (Belarus, Turkey, and other states); 2) the regulation of spontaneous assemblies is lacking in national legislation but the right for spontaneous assemblies is recognized by the decisions of Constitutional Courts and Tribunals (Germany, Austria, and Poland); 3) the right to spontaneous assembly is recognized in national legislation (Armenia, Moldova, and Estonia).