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The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in a judgment of 30 May 2023 has dismissed a complaint introduced by the former president of Croatia, Mr Stjepan Mesić. Mesić’s complaint was about the dismissal by the domestic courts of his civil action for compensation because of alleged defamatory statements in an article published on an Internet news portal suggesting his involvement in criminal activities. In line with the domestic courts, the ECtHR found no violation of Mesić’s right to reputation under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECtHR considered...

A recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has confirmed and clarified under what conditions a public service broadcaster (PSB) has editorial independence and institutional autonomy, and therefore can claim locus standi before the ECtHR as a non-governmental organisation. The judgment revealed a remarkable position taken by the Croatian Government in defence of an interference with the rights of the Croatian public broadcasting organisation, the Croatian Radio-Television (CRT). The Croatian Government argued that the CRT, as a government institution, had no standing before...

The new Electronic Media Act entered into force on 21 October 2021, thus incorporating provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council from 14 November 2018, into national legislation. A new obligation has been introduced in respect of advertisements for games of chance, stipulating - for the first time - that they must contain a message about the risk of developing gambling addiction and be marked with a visual symbol. Criteria for the advertisement of energy drinks were also stipulated. The Act stipulates ownership restrictions related to the protection...

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has once more taken into consideration some specific features of offensive statements distributed over the Internet in a case applying Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The applicant, an environmental activist, was convicted and fined for insulting a local politician, stating in public that the latter had “acted like a real cockroach”. The ECtHR found that the criminal conviction for insult violated the activist’s right to freedom of expression as guaranteed under Article 10 ECHR. The Court referred to the...

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered an interesting judgment in the case of Tölle v. Croatia regarding insulting allegations of domestic violence. In a newspaper article a father accused an association of being responsible for his child’s abduction by its mother. The president of this association, which provides support for women who are victims of violence, replied in a radio interview that her organisation was not involved in his daughter’s abduction and that the man had violently abused his wife - that was also the reason why mother and daughter had fled the...