European Commission of Human Rights

Case: X vs The Netherlands (1974)
Issue: Right to vote
Summary of the decision: Applicant deprived for life of the right to vote as a consequence of his conviction of uncitizenlike conduct, pronounced by a special Dutch Court after WWII. The Commission, having analysed the intention of the laws depriving convicted disloyal citizens of certain political rights, including the right to vote considered: “The purpose of such laws is to prevent persons, who have grossly misused in wartime their right to participate in public life, from misusing their political rights in the future. Crimes against public safety ir against the foundations of a democratic society should thus be avoided by such measures”

Case: Glimmerveen and K. Hagenbeek vs. the Netherlands (11/10/1979) (see text here)
Issue: Holocaust denial and freedom of speech
Summary: The applicants complained that the Netherlands authorities had convicted them (both members of the Nederlandse Volks Unie) for having possessed, with a view of distribution, leaflets considered to be inciting to racial discrimination. The European Commission of Human Rights considered that the general purpose of Article 17 of the Convention was to prevent totalitarian groups from exploiting in their own interests the principles enunciated in the Convention.
The applicants also complained that they were prevented from participating in the municipal elections because their candidatures were declared invalids. The Commission observed that the applicants had declared that they wished to pursue their aims and objectives even if it were not formally on behalf of that association. As a consequence, the refusal of the list could not be characterised as an arbitrary act.