Factsheet – Access to Internet and freedom to receive and impart information and ideas September 2022 This Factsheet does not bind the Court and is not exhaustive Access to Internet and freedom to receive and impart information and ideas Measures blocking access to Internet Ahmet Yıldırım v. Turkey concerned a court decision to block access to Google Sites, which hosted an Internet site […]
Revisionism Pastörs v. Germany concerned the conviction of a Land deputy for denying the Holocaust during a speech in the regional Parliament. The Court declared inadmissible as being manifestly ill-founded the applicant’s complaint under Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the Convention. It noted in particular that the applicant had intentionally stated untruths to defame Jews. Such statements could not attract the protection for freedom […]
Definition In its Grand Chamber judgment of 14 February 2023 delivered in the case Halet v. Luxembourg, the European Court of Human Rights reiterated that the protection enjoyed by whistle-blowers under Article 10 of the Convention was based on the need to take account of features that were specific to the existence of a work-based relationship: on the one hand, the duty of loyalty, reserve […]
Alleged Corruption Stankiewicz and Others v. Poland 2014 The applicants were two journalists and the publisher of the national daily newspaper where they both worked. The case concerned an article they published in that paper, in which they alleged that a high official of the Ministry of Health was involved in corrupt practices. The applicants complained that the Polish courts’ decisions had violated their right […]
Abuse Allegations Sanchez Cardenas v. Norway 2007 In June 1997 a dispute arose concerning access to his children following allegations made by the mother to the police which accused the applicant of having sexually abused one of the children. The investigation into those allegations was discontinued in 1998. The applicant complained about the unfairness of a High Court judgment in 2002 to refuse his right […]
Private Photos In Press The right to privacy and private life must often be balanced with the right to free expression. In Von Hannover v. Germany, the applicant was Princess Caroline of Monaco, who complained about the publication in a magazine of pictures of her children eating in restaurants. She was refused an injunction in the German courts. The court indicated that although freedom of […]
Media The courts have emphasised the importance of the freedom of the press and its relevance as a watchdog in a democratic society. The press has a duty to communicate information and ideas. States have a narrow scope in interference with the freedom of the press. This context must be cogently justified when journalists are expressing information and ideas of public concern. Journalists should be […]
Public Space Face Veil I S.A.S. v. France concerned the complaint of a French national, who is a practising Muslim, that she is no longer allowed to wear the full-face veil in public following the entry into force, on 11 April 2011, of a law prohibiting the concealment of one’s face in public places. The applicant is a devout Muslim and in her submissions she […]
ECHR Article 9 Article 9 provides: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance. . Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs shall be subject only […]
Rights of Groups In Leela Forderkriese ve EV and others v. Germany, the right of religious associations to assert right under the Convention on behalf of its members was confirmed. Some ECHR states have established state religions, whereas others provide that no religion shall be established. In Leela Forderkreis EV v. Germany, the Bhagwan movement was the subject of an information campaign by German authorities […]
Opinions & Facts A distinction is made between judgements and criticism and statements of fact. Statements of opinion are subject to a less strict standard, although they must have some sufficient basis in fact. Generally, it is reasonable in the public interest that defamation proceedings require the defendant to prove factual statements that they have made. The court has held that in some circumstances, it […]
ECHR Guarantee Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides that everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions, and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent states from requiring the licensing of broadcasters, television or cinema enterprises. The exercise of […]