58
GUZZARDI v. ITALY JUDGMENT
PARTLY DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE MATSCHER
general public and that the measures complained of were fully consistent
with this aim.
After all, it was similar reasoning that led the Court to conclude that the
Convention had not been violated in the Klass case (see the judgment of 6
September 1978, Series A no. 28, especially paragraphs 48, 59 and 60, pp.
23 and 27-28).
3. In reviewing the measure applied to Mr. Guzzardi, the judgment
concludes that, taken as a whole, it constituted not just a restriction but a
deprivation of liberty within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 (art. 5-1) of the
Convention. I do not agree.
It is obvious to me that the concept of "deprivation of liberty" is not a
matter for formal and precise criteria; quite the contrary – it is a concept of
some complexity, having a core which cannot be the subject of argument
but which is surrounded by a "grey zone" where it is extremely difficult to
draw the line between "deprivation of liberty" within the meaning of Article
5 § 1 (art. 5-1) and mere restrictions on liberty that do not come within the
ambit of that provision.
In fact, the Convention system has itself introduced (in Article 2 of
Protocol No. 4) (P4-2), alongside the concept of "deprivation of liberty", the
concept of "restrictions on liberty of movement" and, as the Court has
rightly observed (see paragraph 93 of the present judgment), the difference
between the two is merely one of degree or intensity, and not one of nature
or substance. In addition, the bounds that Article 5 (art. 5) requires the
Contracting States not to exceed in their judicial, disciplinary and police
systems may vary from one situation to another (see the Engel judgment of
8 June 1976, Series A no. 22, p. 25, § 59).
Accordingly, only a careful analysis of the various factors which together
made up Mr. Guzzardi’s situation on Asinara can provide an answer to the
question whether or not that situation fell within the concept of "deprivation
of liberty" within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 (art. 5-1). Since this is a
matter of opinion, different views are clearly tenable.
Personally, I do not attach quite the same weight as the majority of the
Court to these various factors (they are set out in paragraph 95 of the present
judgment and it thus seems to me superfluous to repeat them here), taken
individually and together. In addition, I take the "general context of the
case" into account. The whole leads me to the conclusion that the measure
applied to Mr. Guzzardi amounted to a serious restriction on his liberty,
which was motivated by perfectly understandable reasons and was also in
conformity with Italian law, but that it did not attain the level and intensity
that would cause it necessarily to be classified as a deprivation of liberty
within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 (art. 5-1) of the Convention.
4. As a purely secondary point, the measure taken against Mr. Guzzardi
could be regarded as covered by sub-paragraph (c) of Article 5 § 1 (art. 5-1c). The Court reviewed the position under this sub-paragraph (art. 5-1-c),
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