For example, as stressed in the Joint report, according to the European Court of Human Rights (hereafter the ECtHR) the rights to freedom of expression (Article 10 of the ECHR) and to free elections (Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the ECHR) are on the one hand prerequisites of each other, but on the other hand they may conflict and it may be considered necessary, in the period preceding or during an election, to place certain restrictions on freedom of expression, of a type which would not usually be acceptable, in order to secure the “free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature”. At the same time, any restrictions on freedom of expression must be proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued and necessary in a democratic society.