„Pov-con” before the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

In the ECtHR’s case-law free expression constitutes one of the most protected human rights, particularly when it addresses matters of public interest. A recent judgment (Eon v. France, March 14, 2013) dealt with a conviction for exposing of a poster: “Get lost, you sad prick”, during President Sarkozy’s visit to one of the constituencies. The ECtHR held that the conviction had been in violation of Article 10 of the Convention as – in its substance - it contained a political message and – in its form – it duplicated the formula used once by the President himself. The Eon court followed several earlier judgments and decisions in which the ECtHR challenged those criminal law provisions that provided for a particular punishment for insulting the head of state (Colombani and Others v. France, 2002; Pakdemirli v.Turkey, 2005; Artun and Guvener v.Turkey, 2007; Otegi Mondragon v. Spain, 2011). Also the Constitutional Court of Poland had recently (2011) an opportunity to examine a similar provision of the Polish Penal Code. It seems that it took less generous interpretation of the freedom of expression than the one adopted by the ECtHR.