The European Court’s Fourth Section has held, by four votes to three, that a protestor’s conviction, including a suspended three-year prison sentence, for frying eggs over the flame of a war memorial, did not violate the protestor’s freedom of expression. The judgment in Sinkova v. Ukraine prompted a notable dissent, which highlighted “inconsistency” with the Court’s prior case law, and a disregard for the principle that criminal penalties are likely to have a “chilling effect on satirical forms of expression relating to topical issues.” Read the rest of this entry »
Case Law, Strasbourg: Sinkova v Ukraine, Conviction for performance art war memorial protest did not violate Article 10 – Ronan Ó Fathaigh and Dirk Voorhoof
22 03 2018Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Article 10, Dirk Voorhoof, Ronan O Fathaigh, Strasbourg Observers
Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights
Case Law, Strasbourg: Standard Verlagsgesellschaft mbH v Austria, Narrow approach to “value judgments” leads to rejection of Article 10 application – Emma Foubister
8 12 2017
In Standard Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (No.2) v Austria [2017] ECHR 1040, the Fifth Section of the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) held that ordering a newspaper to pay compensation to a politician falsely accused of being the spiritus rector (guiding spirit) of a spying operation did not violate Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”). Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Article 10, Emma Foubister, Value Judgments
Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights
Case Law, Strasbourg: Giesbert v France, Sanctions for publishing prosecution statements, no violation of Article 10 – Hugh Tomlinson QC
2 06 2017
In the case of Giesbert v France ([2017] ECHR 504, 1 June 2017)(French only) the Fifth Section of the Court of Human Rights held that Court orders made against the magazine, Le Point, sanctioning the publication of criminal court documents in the high profile “Bettancourt” case did not violate Article 10 of the Convention. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Article 10, Article 6, Hugh Tomlinson QC
Categories : Caselaw, France, Freedom of expression, Human Rights, Privacy
News: Supreme Court dismisses newspapers’ Article 10 CFA appeals
11 04 2017
In a unanimous judgment ([2017] UKSC 33) handed down today the UK Supreme Court dismissed the appeals by Times Newspapers, Associated Newspapers and MGN against orders that they pay success fees and after the event insurance premiums (“additional liabilities”) under conditional fee agreements (“CFAs”) in libel and privacy claims. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Article 10, ATE, CFAs, Success Fees
Categories : Libel, Privacy
Case Law, Strasbourg: Olafsson v Iceland, Website editor not liable for publishing sexual allegations against candidate – Ed Klaris and Alexia Bedat
20 03 2017
In the case of Olafsson v Iceland ([2017] ECHR 259) the Court of Human Rights held that the Icelandic courts were wrong to hold a website editor liable for publishing allegations made by two sisters that their relative, A, who was standing for election for the Constitutional Assembly had sexually abused them when they were children. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Alexa Bedat, Article 10, Ed Klaris, Iceland
Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights
Case Law, Strasbourg: Lykin v. Ukraine, Free speech and elected officials – Ed Klaris & Alexia Bedat
17 01 2017
On 12 January 2017, the Court of Human Rights handed down judgment in the case of Lykin v Ukraine ([2017] ECHR 17), providing a timely reminder that freedom of political expression under Article 10 can trump reputation. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: Alexia Bedat, Article 10, Ed Klaris, Strasbourg
Categories : Freedom of expression, Human Rights
News: Supreme Court gives permission to appeal in Mirror phone hacking costs case
27 10 2016
On 26 October 2016, the Supreme Court (Lords Mance, Reed and Toulson) gave Mirror Group Newspapers permission to appeal against a decision of Mann J on costs and CFAs. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Article 10, CFAs, Costs, Phone Hacking
Categories : Freedom of expression, Government and Policy, Libel
News: Supreme Court CFA appeals to be heard over 3 days in January 2017
4 10 2016
The joined appeals in Flood v Times Newspapers and Miller v Associated Newspapers in which the press arguing that CFA success fees and ATE insurance are contrary to Article 10 have been listed for a three day hearing on 24, 25 and 26 January 2017. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Article 10, CFA, Costs, Flood, Miller, Supreme Court
Categories : Legal, Libel
News: Supreme Court gives Mail permission to appeal in human rights challenge to CFAs
5 09 2016
On 2 August 2016, the Supreme Court (Lords Mance, Clarke and Wilson) gave the Daily Mail permission to appeal [pdf] in the case of Miller v Associated Newspapers Ltd, a human rights challenge to CFA success fees and ATE insurance. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Article 10, CFA, Supreme Court
Categories : Government and Policy, Legal
Case Law, Strasbourg: Pinto Coelho v. Portugal (No.2), Open Justice, Article 10 and Broadcasting recordings of hearings – Hugh Tomlinson QC
26 03 2016
In the case of Pinto Coelho v Portugal (No.2) ([2016] ECHR 296)(only in French) the Fourth Section of the Court of Human Rights held (by a 6:1 majority) that the imposition of a fine on a journalist who had published unauthorised audio recordings of a criminal trial was a breach of Article 10. The case has potentially wide implications for jurisdictions such as England and Wales which continue to prohibit the transmission of recordings of criminal trials. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Article 10, Court Reporting, Hugh Tomlinson QC
Categories : Freedom of expression, Freedom of Information, Human Rights, Legal, Open Justice
