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Thlimmenos v. Greece, No. 34369/97, ECtHR (Grand Chamber), 6 April 2000

Abstract

Refusal to perform the military service and exclusion from the appointment as chartered accountant. 

Normative references

Art. 9 ECHR 
Art. 14 ECHR 

Ruling

1. The exclusion from the profession of chartered accountant due to a previous criminal conviction for having refused to perform the military service, when no alternative civilian service was possible, is unlawful. 

2. A further limitation on the professional ground is disproportionate and discriminatory and amounts to a violation of Art. 14 ECHR in conjunction with Art. 9 ECHR, when a prison sentence has already been served. 
(Mr Thlimmenos had refused to enlist and, specifically, to wear a military uniform, on religious grounds, being a Jehovah's Witness and a pacifist).