Animal Defenders International: Speech, Spending and a Change of Direction in Strasbourg

Abstract

This paper looks at the decision of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Animal Defenders International, in which the Court found the UK's ban on political advertising on the broadcast media not to violate freedom of expression. In addition to examining the Court's reasoning, the paper considers the previous decisions on political advertising, compares the ECtHR's approach to that taken by the US Supreme Court in Citizens United, and outlines the main differences in the dissenting opinions. The final paper will appear in the Journal of Media Law.

Keywords: Animal Defenders International, political advertising, freedom of expression, Article 10