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 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

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 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

* Guest post by prof. Dirk Voorhoof, Ghent University and Ronan Ó Fathaigh.

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 [Read more…] about Conviction for performance-art protest at war memorial did not violate Article 10

On February 28 Europe adopted the Geoblocking Regulation. The European Parliament, European Commission and Member States have collectively reached a final agreement. Discrimination of customers in e-commerce on the basis of their nationality, place of residence or place of establishment shall be prohibited. Streaming of copyright protected music, e-books, online games or software do not (yet) fall under the scope of the Regulation. Other services such as financial, audio-visual, transport, healthcare and social services are also [Read more…] about Geoblocking Regulation is final!