30 July 2020
Stay Away from Using your Constitutional Rights
The Academics for Peace Petition is a petition signed by over 2,200 academics in and outside Turkey in 2016. It became, however, more than a simple petition. This collection of signatures put in motion mass criminal proceedings, job dismissals and many other forms of administrative and social sanctions against hundreds of academics in Turkey. This reaction is unprecedented in terms of scale and effects in contemporary times. Continue reading >>
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09 July 2020
In Search for an Antidote
In early January 2020, the Chinese doctor Li Wenliang became the first victim of what would soon become a global censorship pandemic. After warning colleagues about a mysterious SARS-like disease in an online chat room, Dr. Li and seven other doctors were arrested for spreading “false rumors.” Li had to sign an agreement warning of consequences if he continued his “illegal activities.” By 31 December 2019, the government forced social media platforms like YY and WeChat to censor content related to the coronavirus, Dr. Li and the government’s handling of the outbreak. Next, the regime cracked down on journalists, commentators and foreign correspondents covering the crisis. On 7 February 2020, Dr. Li died of the coronavirus. There can be little doubt that COVID-related misinformation can cause harm and panic. But censorship is a bad medicine that may well worsen rather than cure the infection of distrust and conspiracy theories. Continue reading >>
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11 June 2020
Homosexuality as a Form of Expression
Numerous courts have dealt with the question whether the sexual identity of an individual enjoys constitutional protection as freedom of expression. Recently, Singapore’s Supreme Court has rejected this understanding of the freedom of expression which highlights the different approaches of courts across countries like Singapore, India, Botswana, and Kenya. Continue reading >>
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14 April 2020
Don’t Call a Spade a Shovel
Such concerns are, not only but to a large extent, fueled by the apparent indeterminacy of the terms employed to regulate fake news. This is true for Hungary, but also for France, Russia and several Asian countries, which have already passed fake news legislation. Uncertainties concerning the definition may have discouraged other states from passing similar laws, out of legitimate worries over freedom of expression. In fact, however, many scholars and institutions actually agree on the characteristics of the phenomenon. Continue reading >>
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20 January 2020
“Gelenkte Demokratie” und der Protest der Gelenkten
Um Wahlkabinen-Fotos zu verbieten, bedarf es einer soliden gesetzlichen Grundlage. Das hat der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte heute entschieden – in einem ungarischen Fall, der weit über diese Spezialfrage hinausweist. Continue reading >>30 November 2019
Why We Have Sued the Hungarian Parliament
The President of the Hungarian Parliament has restricted journalistic reporting on the premises of the Parliament to a point where it has become virtually impossible for journalists to do their job. Bea Bakó, chief editor of the news site azonnali.hu, on the limitations journalists have to face in Hungary, and why they are taking the President of Parliament to court. Continue reading >>28 November 2019
Supporting Wojciech Sadurski in a Warsaw Courtroom
Last week one of us, together with Gráinne de Burca, again put the spotlight on PiS and allies suing Wojciech Sadurski over some highly critical tweets. It led to a tremendous show of support. This support makes it a statement of the obvious that Sadurski’s trial is a blemish on the EU and every Member States that both so frequently pledge to take the rule of law seriously. And yet. His (first) trial took place yesterday, Wednesday 27 November, at the Warsaw district court. Here is an account of what we both witnessed, live and through live footage respectively. Continue reading >>18 November 2019
Stand with Wojciech Sadurski: his freedom of expression is (y)ours
Just days before the trial against Wojciech Sadurski in Warsaw, we write to seek renewal of your support, and for your help in keeping the PiS strategy of coordinated legal harassment against him, and the threat of a criminal conviction and an award of damages against him as well as hefty legal fees, in the public eye. The party believes that it can ride out the storm, and that by ignoring the protests they will eventually disappear. But they will not. Continue reading >>22 June 2019
France Criminalises Research on Judges
In March, France made a controversial move and became the first country in the world to explicitly ban research on individual judicial behaviour. It is now a criminal offence to ‘evaluate, analyse, compare or predict’ the behaviour of individual judges. The result is a flagrant violation of the freedom of expression, represents an affront to basic values of academic freedom, and disregards basic principles of the rule of law. Continue reading >>14 June 2019
Producing Legal History
Iustitia dilata est iustitia negata is a famous legal maxim meaning that “justice delayed is justice denied”. It goes without saying that it represents a universal truth. This truth is particularly relevant to the European Court of Human Rights which - on average - takes several years to deliver a judgment. Continue reading >>
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