This paper includes a survey of domestic law, chiefly of the constitutional provisions, on the freedom of association and some general reflections on the functions of association and its place in private domestic law, followed by an analysis of the relevant international law, mainly of the ECHR and its case law. Finally, by comparing the outcome of above analysis, the author puts forward some propositions about the possible and desirable way in which this freedom further could be developed in the practice of the ECHR institution.