Regional systems 105 The State may limit manifestation of a minority’s religion only for reasonable and objective reasons. [W]here the organisation of the religious community is at issue, Article 9 must be interpreted in the light of Article 11 of the Convention which safeguards associative life against unjustified State interference. Seen in this perspective, the believer’s right to freedom of religion encompasses the expectation that the community will be allowed to function peacefully, free from arbitrary State intervention. Indeed, the autonomous existence of religious communities is indispensable for pluralism in a democratic society and is thus an issue at the very heart of the protection which Article 9 affords. It directly concerns not only the organisation of the community as such but also the effective enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion by all its active members. Were the organisational life of the community not protected by Article ­9 of the Convention, all other aspects of the individual’s freedom of religion would become vulnerable (Hasan and Chaush v. Bulgaria (2000)). Furthermore, according to the Court, “a minority group is, in principle, entitled to claim the right to respect for the particular life style it may lead as being ‘private life’, ‘family life’ or ‘home’” under article 8 of the Convention (G. and E. v. Norway (1983)). The Court has recently  recalled, referring to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, that “there is an emerging international consensus amongst the Contracting States of the Council of Europe recognising the special needs of minorities and an obligation to protect their security, identity and lifestyle ... , not only for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the minorities themselves but to preserve a cultural diversity that is of value to the whole community …. [T]he force of the collective beliefs of a community that is well defined culturally cannot be ignored” (Munoz Diaz v. Spain (2009)). In this case, the Court found it to be disproportionate for Spain – which had issued the applicant and her Roma family with a family record book, granted them large-family status, afforded health-care assistance to her and her six children and collected social security contributions from her Roma husband for over 19 years – to refuse to recognize the effects of their Roma marriage when it came to a survivor’s pension. Procedure for individual applications Filing an application In order to successfully lodge a case with the Court, an applicant must fulfil certain admissibility criteria.130 Most complaints are dismissed at the admissibility stage, and, since a complaint cannot be lodged twice on substantially the same facts, it is imperative that the complaint meet the criteria on the first application. The Court has its own application form (available from the Registrar of the Court in all the official languages of the Contracting States), which must be completed and returned to the Court. Besides the personal details of the applicant and his or her legal representative, the applicant must provide information including: • A detailed account of the facts; • Detailed submissions on the Convention rights which have allegedly been violated; • Evidence of the remedies already sought at the national level including dates and details of judgements; • The remedy sought from the Court. Copies of all supporting documents must be included with the application. Guidance for those wishing to apply to the European Court of Human Rights is available from www.echr.coe. int/ECHR/EN/Header/Applicants/Apply+to+the+Court/Application+pack (accessed 4 December 2012). 130