Ruling has been made on our ECHR Case

Verdict out in our legal action against UK government over Russian interference.

21 July 2025

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled on our legal action which set out to argue that the UK government’s failure to investigate allegations of Russian interference breaches our right to a free and fair election, under Article 3 Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The court has ruled that the convention has not been breached and that the UK went far enough in investigating the threat.

However it establishes a really significant acknowledgment: that Article 3 rights are engaged, meaning foreign interference (including disinformation campaigns) is a threat to free and fair elections across Europe. This was denied by the UK government.

The claim was brought by three former MPs, Ben Bradshaw, Caroline Lucas and Alyn Smith, supported by us at the Citizens. It argued that the government’s decision not to order an investigation was unlawful.

The MPs were represented by Leigh Day partner Tessa Gregory and senior associate Tom Short.

The group is considering next steps and in the meantime provides these statements.

Caroline Lucas, former Green Party MP, said:

“It’s hugely significant that the Court has found in favour of our case that foreign interference is a threat to our right to free and fair elections and that they recognise there will be cases when states do have a duty to investigate.

And while it’s clearly disappointing that they found that the Government had done enough, I’ve no doubt that this will continue to be contested. The bottom line is that we still cannot be assured that our democratic system is robust against foreign interference – and for as long as that is the case, we will continue to explore all possible avenues for remedy.”

The former SNP MP, Alyn Smith, said

“The Court accepted we had a right to bring the case, that there is a credible risk of mis- and -disinformation to our (and other states’) democracy and that governments have an obligation to investigate and enact measures to protect it. These were all points the UK government denied. The Court also ruled that the actions taken by the UK could not be proven to be insufficient, and where I respect the Court I’m quite sure we have not heard the last of the role social media plays in our democracy.”

Tessa Gregory at Leigh Day, who is representing the group of cross-party ex-MPs said:

“This is the first time the European Court has considered the obligations on States to protect their democracies from hostile state interference. In an important judgment the Court has accepted (contrary to the UK’s submissions) that to safeguard citizens’ right to free and fair elections States may have to take positive action to investigate and combat foreign interference. This decision has far-reaching implications and puts European states on notice that they must ensure the integrity of their electoral processes in the face of foreign interference. Our clients continue to think the UK has fallen short protecting our democracy and are considering next steps in relation to the Court’s conclusion that there has been no violation of their right to free and fair elections.”

Clara Maguire, Executive Director of the Citizens, said:

“The court has established that foreign interference – including disinformation campaigns – is a real and urgent threat to free and fair elections across Europe. This is something that incredibly the UK government was denying and we’re delighted that we’ve now proved that.

While we lost on the final point, we are taking advice on challenging this. Foreign interference – whether from Russia, China or Elon Musk – is a live and ongoing threat and we disagree with the court that the UK government has taken the necessary steps to prevent this.”

Caroline Lucas, Alyn Smith, Tessa Gregory, Carole Cadwalladr and Clara Maguire are available for further comments.

For media requests, write to us on info@the-citizens.com

The Citizens is a not-for-profit journalism and campaigning organisation with a focus on technology and politics. We use storytelling to power movements that confront the unchecked power of Big Tech and states. In 2020, along with a group of MPs and peers, we began legal action against the government for its failure to act on the Russia Report.