A/HRC/22/28 modification of the itinerary or the time of the public gathering, if it considers that the event may pose a threat to public order or danger to persons or property. The decision of the public authorities can be appealed before an administrative body within 48 hours in the presence of all parties and prior to the date of the planned event. The decision of the administrative tribunal can be appealed before the Constitutional Court. 43. In Switzerland, the right to demonstrate in public spaces derives from the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly as protected under the federal Constitution.18 However, demonstrations may be subject to prior authorization, if provided for by law, to coordinate the use of public areas and to guarantee public safety. Management of public areas falls within the competence of the cantonal and communal authorities. In the cantons of Bern, Geneva and Graubünden, the organizers of demonstrations are reqired to obtain prior authorization to hold demonstrations. In practice, however, the procedure functions like a notification system, as demonstrations are almost never prohibited. Spontaneous demonstrations are not subject to a prior authorization procedure in Switzerland. Refusal by the competent authorities to grant authorization for a peaceful protest may be appealed before the first instance jurisdiction at the commune level; the Federal Tribunal would be the final national court to hear an appeal. 44. The Commonwealth Secretariat highlighted that “authorities must be notified of a proposed demonstration or protest unless the circumstances are such that prior notification is not possible; authorities have no authority to stop a demonstration or protest, but may stipulate reasonable conditions to safeguard against potential violence; prohibition is a last resort, where there is a genuine threat of violence if the event were to take place; judicial review is to be made available against decisions of the authorities; organizers are to be made aware by the authorities of the conditions of a demonstration or protest and their liability for any damages caused.”19 45. The European Court of Human Rights has placed limitations on the dissolution of peaceful demonstrations spontaneously organized in response to events that would foreseeably result in demonstrations. The Court said that “in special circumstances when an immediate response, in the form of a demonstration, to a political event might be justified, a decision to disband the ensuing, peaceful assembly solely because of the absence of the requisite prior notice, without any illegal conducts by the participants, amounts to a disproportionate restriction on freedom of peaceful assembly.” 20 Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights determined that the absence of an effective appeals procedure against a decision to forbid an assembly prior to the proposed date of said assembly is a violation of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.21 46. The Defending Dissent Foundation, based in the United States of America, argued that notice or permits should not be required for assemblies of less than 50 people, or when the protest takes place on public sidewalks, or when the assembly is for the purpose of an immediate and spontaneous expression of views in response to a public event. Lawyers for Constitutional Rights and Freedoms (JURIX) advocates that ordinary participants of 18 19 20 21 Switzerland, Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (1999), arts. 16 and 22. Commonwealth Secretariat, Freedom of Expression, Association and Assembly, Best Practice Series (London, 2003), pp. 21-22. European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Bukta and others v. Hungary, Application No. 25691/04, judgement of 17 July 2007, para. 36. Ibid., Baczkowski and others v. Poland, Application No. 1543/06, judgement of 3 May 2007. The Office of the Human Rights Defender in Poland was involved in the case from the outset, arguing that the introduction of a requirement to obtain permission for an assembly on a public road is a violation of the freedom of assembly. 11