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ADI to appeal UK ad ban in European Court of Human Rights

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 24 Sep 2008

Animal Defenders International (ADI) is taking the UK to the European Court of Human Rights over its ban on political advertising.

ADI has filed a complaint with the Strasbourg court saying the UK’s legislation on advertising fails to comply with the provisions on freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Since 2005, ADI has been fighting a ban on its ‘My mate’s a primate’ TV advert (pictured). The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre blocked the advert because ADI was deemed to be a political group under the Communications Act 2003. ADI lost its High Court challenge in October 2006, but was given the right to appeal to the House of Lords.

At the Lords’ hearing last December, ADI argued that the ban on political advertising under the Communications Act 2003 was too widely drafted as it also included organisations with aims to influence public opinion. The animal rights group said the ban was not a justified interference with the right to freedom of expression.

However, the House of Lords dismissed ADI’s appeal in March of this year, saying the government and parliament had examined whether a limited ban could work and concluded it could not.

ADI ‘confident of winning’

Chief executive of ADI, Jan Creamer said: “It is clear that the UK legislation is at odds with the European Court of Human Rights’ case law on freedom of expression, and we are confident that we will win this case. This will allow ADI, and similar campaign and advocacy groups to put their message across on television and radio, which can only enrich the UK’s democratic life. It is unfair that companies can place advertisements that cannot be challenged.”

ADI’s lawyer, Tamsin Allen from law firm Bindmans added: “The UK is defending a very wide blanket ban on broadcast advertising by campaign groups, which includes many charities. Political speech is rightly protected in Europe as a fundamental ingredient of a healthy democracy.

“This peaceful campaigning group has been banned from broadcasting a perfectly innocuous advertisement on the grounds that it seeks to influence public opinion on a matter of controversy, the commercial exploitation of animals. This cannot be justified as a legitimate exemption to the right to freedom of expression.”

Similar ban in Sweden overturned

In 2002, a similar ban in Switzerland was overturned by the European Court of Human Rights and replaced by a lesser restriction on the broadcast of party political and electoral advertising.

Animal rights group VGT took the Swiss government to the European Court of Human Rights after it banned the group’s advert on meat eating on the same grounds as ADI’s ban. The European Court found in favour of VGT because of its right to freedom of expression.

The European Court must first decide whether it will hear the full case, so no date has yet been set for a hearing.

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