Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: European Court of human rights

Date: 11/06/2007

Subject: The Court held, by five votes to two, that there had been a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court noted that the final criminal and civil judgments at issue undoubtedly constituted an interference with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression which were “prescribed by law” and adopted in pursuit of a legitimate aim, namely “for the protection of the reputation” of another. Concerning whether the criminal conviction and the compensation awarded were proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued, the Court noted that the applicant had clearly written the article in question in the run-up to an election and in his capacity as a politician. The target of the applicant’s criticism was the mayor, himself a public figure, and the word “sumanuto” was obviously not used to describe the mayor’s mental state but rather to explain the manner in which he had allegedly been spending local taxpayers’ money. Although the applicant was unable to prove before the domestic courts that his other claims were true, even assuming that they were all statements of fact and, as such, susceptible of proof, he clearly had some reason to believe that the mayor might have been involved in criminal activity and, also, that his tenure was unlawful. In any event, although the applicant’s article contained some strong language, it was not a gratuitous personal attack and focused on issues of public interest rather than the mayor’s private life. The reasoning of the criminal and civil courts, in ruling against the applicant, was not “sufficient”, given the amount of compensation and costs awarded (equivalent to approximately eight average monthly salaries in Serbia at the relevant time) as well as the suspended fine which could, under certain circumstances, have been converted into a prison term. Bearing in mind the seriousness of the criminal sanctions involved, as well as the domestic courts’ dubious reasoning that the mayor’s honour was more important than that of an ordinary citizen, the Court concluded that there had been a violation of Article 10.

Parties: Lepojić c/ Serbia

Classification: Freedoms - Art. 12 Freedom of association