Freedoms of Association and of Assembly: Some International and Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

The freedoms of assembly and of association, while closely linked and generally serving similar ends in a democracy, are nevertheless different and distinct. However, they are so sufficiently connected1 that it is instructive for general comments about them to be made together. At the centre of the two freedoms is the recognition of the idea that there are certain legitimate goals which the individual can only best attain by working with others and accordingly that these freedoms must be protected for the attainment of those goals. It is this central idea which shapes the nature and scope of these freedoms.