Judgment No. CCZ 7/16 29 Const. Application No. CCZ 17/15 complained that their “right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” guaranteed by Article 9 of the Convention had been breached. Their complaints in relation to these two provisions were dismissed by a majority decision of seven votes to two. The dissenting judges took a robust view of the rights allegedly infringed. In their opinion, Mr and Mrs Valsamis’s perception of the symbolism of the school parade and its religious and philosophical connotations had to be accepted because it was not obviously unfounded and unreasonable. Similarly, Miss Valsamis’s statement that the parade she did not participate in had a character and symbolism that were clearly contrary to her religious beliefs also had to be accepted and there was no basis for seeing her participation in this parade as necessary in a democratic society. The minority accordingly found that both Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 and Article 9 of the Convention had been violated. As regards the right to education and its corollary of parental convictions, the majority judges were of the opinion, at paras. 31-33, that: “Such commemorations of national events serve, in their way, both pacifist objectives and the national interest. The presence of military representatives at some of the parades which take place in Greece on the day in question does not in itself alter the nature of the parades. Furthermore, the obligation on the pupil does not deprive her parents of their right ‘to enlighten and advise their children, to exercise with regard to their children natural parental functions as educators, or to guide their children on a path in line with the parents’ own religious or philosophical convictions’. …. It is not for the Court to rule on the expediency of other educational methods which, in the applicants’ view, would be better suited to the aim of perpetuating historical memory among the younger generation. …. In conclusion, there has not been a breach of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-2).”