European Convention on Human Rights - right to form a trade union - right to bargain collectively - interpretation of convention in light of other international law.

Demir & Baykara v. Turkey. App. No. 34503/97. At http://www.echr.coe.int. European Court of Human Rights, Grand Chamber, November 12, 2008.

In Demir v. Turkey, (1) a unanimous Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that Turkey had violated the applicants' rights to form a trade union and to bargain collectively under Article 11 ("Freedom of assembly and association") of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (2) (Convention), elaborating a methodological approach to interpreting the Convention in light of other international law.

The application was brought by Kemal Demir and Vicdan Baykara, member and president, respectively, of the trade union Tum Bel Sen, founded in 1990 by civil servants from various Turkish municipalities. In 1993, the trade union entered into a collective agreement with the Gaziantep Municipal Council. Shortly thereafter, the trade union successfully brought civil proceedings before the Gaziantep District Court on account of the Municipal Council's breach of obligations under the agreement (paras.14-17). The District Court's ruling was ultimately quashed by the Court of Cassation on the ground that there was no specific law recognizing the trade union as a legal entity, with the consequence that the collective agreement was annulled and the members of the ...

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