Finnish Student Unions as Associations in the Context of ECHR Article 11

ABSTRACT This study examines the applicability of article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to Finnish student unions. In Finland, student unions have not traditionally been regarded as associations within the context of the convention, based on certain old inadmissibility decisions made by the European Commission of Human Rights. Based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, this study shows that, despite its wording, the Convention also protects negative freedom of association – the right not to belong. Methodologically, this is a legal dogmatic study that examines the case law, particularly in terms of the criteria by which it excludes or includes some communities from its scope. The conclusion is that, if the case of compulsory membership of student unions is debated in the Court of Human Rights, student unions cannot be considered public institutions, to which article 11 ECHR has not been applicable, but should be treated as associations. This, in turn, implies that compulsory student union membership can be criticised from the perspectives of both national law and the Convention.