This research will deal with the notion of protected democracy with regard to extremist Islamic movements and their role as anti-systemic forces. This topic is still mostly overlooked from a juridical, or rather a constitutional, point of view. This essay will evaluate the main legislative, administrative and judiciary measures that banned Islamist movements in some European countries (including Germany and Italy), with a particular focus on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. The purpose of this research is to identify parameters which the Government and Courts have used to assess the compatibility of the principle of freedom of expression with some active, anti-democratic – but not violent – behaviour in the context of the European free democratic order.