Church of Scientology v. Sweden

In 1975, a Swedish newspaper published certain statements made in the course of lecture by a professor of theology, including that "Scientology in the most untruthful movement there is. It is the cholera of spiritual life. That is how dangerous it is".^[1]

Request by the Church of Scientology to start proceedings against the publisher was rejected by the Supreme Court.^[1]

The commission declared the application inadmissible. Concerning Article 9 of the Convention (freedom of religion), it noted that the Commission does not exclude the possibility of criticism or 'agitation' against a church or religious group reaching such a level that it might endanger freedom of religion and where a tolerance of such behaviour by the authorities could engage State responsibility. However, the Commission does not consider that such an issue arises on the facts of the present case.^{[1]: para 5}

Concerning Article 6 (access to court), the Commission reaffirmed that the right of an individual to protect his reputation can be regarded as a civil right protected by Article 6, but did not extend this protection to a group, when the national legislation didn't foresee that.^{[1]: para 19}