In the case of SIC – Sociedade Independente de Comunicação v Portugal ([2021] ECHR 703) the Fourth Section of the European Court of Human Rights held that an award of damages totalling €146,000 euros (about £124,200) – a record in Portugal – to a politician wrongly linked to an investigation into a paedophile scandal in the Azores was disproportionate and could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Mike Dodd
In its judgment in Amaghlobeli and Others v. Georgia ([2021] ECHR 422) the European Court of human Rights rejected complaints by two journalists and the publishing company for which they worked that their rights to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention were breached when the journalists were fined for having entered the customs control zone of a border post. Continue reading
In its judgment in the case of Handzhiyski v Bulgaria ([2021] ECHR 283) the Fourth Section of the Court held, by a six-one majority, that convicting and fining a local politician who had placed a Santa Claus hat on a statute of a former Communist and put a red sack at its feet as part of a political and satirical protest was an unjustified interference with his right to freedom of expression under Article 10. Continue reading
The BBC has been fined £28,000 for contempt of court after including a six-second shot taken from a recording of a ‘remote’ hearing in the High Court as background footage in a report on a planning dispute. Continue reading
A man who posted an online message slamming a law firm as a “total waste of money” and a “scam solicitor” has been ordered to pay £25,000 in damages for defamation. Continue reading
In the case of Balaskas v Greece [2020] ECHR 783 the European Court of Human Rights held that the conviction of a journalist of insulting a headmaster by describing him as a neo-Nazi in an article breached his right to freedom of expression. Continue reading
Courts considering the meaning of a statement in defamation cases in which the publisher is seeking to use the defence that the publication was on a matter of public interest should adopt a flexible approach, according to the authors of the latest edition of Duncan and Neill on Defamation. Continue reading
A High Court judge has criticised the “secretive culture of the public service” and strongly criticised the evidence given by two senior civil servants in a freedom of information battle over the ministerial diary of former health secretary Andrew Lansley. Continue reading
The issue of when something is “published” on the internet is at the centre of Mr Justice Fulford’s decision that two articles giving details of previous allegations against PC Simon Harwood were a breach of the strict liability rule. Continue reading
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