GORZELIK AND OTHERS v. POLAND JUDGMENT 25 48. The applicants complained that the Polish authorities had arbitrarily refused to register their association, called “Union of People of Silesian Nationality”, and alleged a breach of Article 11 of the Convention, which provides: “1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. 2. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This Article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the administration of the State.” 49. In its judgment of 20 December 2001, the Chamber found that there had been no breach of Article 11. It held that the refusal to register the applicants' association, which had been prompted by the need to protect the State electoral system against the applicants' potential attempt to claim unwarranted privileges under electoral law, had been justified under paragraph 2 of that provision (see paragraphs 64 et seq. of the Chamber's judgment). 50. The applicants, in their letter of 20 March 2002 requesting that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber, stressed that a refusal to register an association could not – as had happened in their case – be based on mere impressions or suppositions about the association's future actions. They criticised the Chamber's conclusion that the statement in paragraph 30 of the memorandum of association that their Union was to be an “organisation of the Silesian national minority” had given the impression that they might later aspire to stand in elections and acquire privileges under electoral law. In that connection, they argued that not only had that finding been unsupported by any evidence showing that that was indeed their intention, but also that registration of their association would not have conferred on them any such privileges automatically since, in the absence of any definition of the concept of “national minority” in Polish law, that issue had been left for the State Electoral College to decide. 51. The Government entirely agreed with the findings and conclusions of the Chamber and considered that the applicants' arguments should be rejected. A. Whether there has been an interference 52. Both before the Chamber and the Grand Chamber, the parties agreed that there had been an interference with the exercise of the applicants' right to freedom of association within the meaning of paragraph 2 of Article 11.