Press Law

The fifth edition of the internationally renowned International Libel and Privacy Handbook has just been published by LexisNexis. Jens van den Brink and Emiel Jurjens wrote the chapter on libel and privacy law in The Netherlands.

The Handbook contains practical and concise answers for media content providers worldwide to questions which are directly relevant to everyday journalistic practice in many countries. Questions discussed include who can sue for libel and on what grounds, the varying interpretations of the right to privacy in different countries and legal aspects of various journalistic methods (such as recording and/or broadcasting conversations).

The Handbook is available now both as e-book and print book.

* This blog post was written by Ronan Ó Fathaigh, IVIR/Univ. Amsterdam and Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

In the case of Studio Monitori and Others v. Georgia the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in its judgment of 30 January 2020 has confirmed that the right to freedom of expression and information as guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) can only be invoked in order to obtain access to public documents when a set of conditions are fulfilled. It is one of the cases following the judgment [Read more…] about Studio Monitori and Others v. Georgia: access to public documents must be ‘instrumental’ for the right to freedom of expression

* This blog post was written by Ronan Ó Fathaigh, IVIR/Univ. Amsterdam and Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

In Tagiyev and Huseynov v. Azerbaijan, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously held that the conviction and imprisonment of Azerbaijani journalist Rafig Nazir oglu Tagiye, and editor Samir Sadagat oglu Huseynov, for incitement to religious hatred, violated their right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR. Both had spent over a year in an Azerbaijan prison, and shockingly, following his release, Tagiyev was stabbed to death in an attack in Baku while his case was pending before the European Court. Tagiyev’s wife has continued the [Read more…] about Journalist and editor’s conviction for incitement to religious hatred violated Article 10

* This blog post was written by Ronan Ó Fathaigh, IVIR/Univ. Amsterdam and Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

In Szurovecz v. Hungary, the European Court of Human Rights has held that a refusal to grant a journalist access to an asylum-seeker ‘reception centre’ in Hungary violated his right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR. The ECtHR emphasised that newsgathering, including ‘first-hand’ observation by a journalist reporting on a matter of significant public interest, is an essential part of journalistic research and [Read more…] about Denying journalist access to asylum-seeker ‘reception centre’ in Hungary violated Article 10 ECHR

* This blog post was written by Ronan Ó Fathaigh, IVIR/Univ. Amsterdam and Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

The European Court’s Second Section recently found that criminal proceedings against the owner and the editor of a newspaper for having published statements by the leader of a terrorist organisation were justified and did notviolate the right to [Read more…] about ECtHR engages in dangerous “triple pirouette” to find criminal prosecution for media coverage of PKK statements did not violate Article 10

* This blog post was written by Ronan Ó Fathaigh, IVIR/Univ. Amsterdam and Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

On 15 January 2019, the European Court’s Second Section unanimously found that an anti-corruption activist’s conviction for staging an “obscene” demonstration outside a prosecutor’s office, targeting a number of public officials, violated the activist’s freedom of expression. The Court in Mătăsaru v. the Republic of Moldova took the Moldovan courts to task for holding that Article 10 of the European Convention was not applicable to the activist’s protest, with the European Court reiterating that “expressive conduct” which shocks, offends or disturbs is fully protected [Read more…] about Activist’s conviction for hooliganism over ‘obscene’ protest violated Article 10 ECHR

* Guest post By Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

In Savva Terentyev v. Russia the ECtHR has applied a very high level of free speech-protection for aggressively insulting and hostile comments about police officers, published on a weblog. The ECtHR observes that some of the wording in the blog post was offensive, insulting and virulent, but it found that the (emotional and sarcastic) comments as a whole could not be seen as inciting to hatred or violence. In contrast with the findings [Read more…] about Savva Terentyev v. Russia: criminal conviction for inciting hatred against the police violated a blogger’s freedom of expression

* Guest post By Dirk Voorhoof, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy

In its judgment of 17 July 2018 the ECtHR has found various violations of the rights of the members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot. The ECtHR found violations under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), Article 5 § 3 (right to liberty and security) and 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) ECHR (right to fair trial), in relation to the conditions of their transportation and detention in the courthouse, their pre-trial detention, the treatment during the court hearings (being exposed to public view in a glass dock surrounded by armed police), and restrictions to legal assistance. Most importantly the ECtHR found [Read more…] about Pussy Riot, the right to protest and to criticise the President, and the Patriarch – Mariya Alekhina and Others v. Russia