Short presentation of key issues in judgment ECtHR in the case Von Hannover nr. 3 v. Germany, balancing the right of privacy with the right to freedom of expressio

Voorhoof, Dirk

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

IRIS 2013-10/2European Court of Human Rights: Von Hannover no. 3 v. GermanyThe European Court of Human Rights has delivered a new judgment regarding a complaint by Princess Carolinevon Hannover that the German courts had not sufficiently protected her right to privacy as guaranteed by Article8 of the Convention, by giving too much weight to the right of the press as guaranteed by Article 5 of the Ger-man Constitution and Article 10 of the European Convention (see earlier also Von Hannover no. 1 v. Germany,IRIS 2004-8/2 and Von Hannover no. 2 v. Germany, IRIS 2012-3/1). This time the Princess of Monaco lodged anappeal in Strasbourg relating to the refusal by the German courts to grant an injunction prohibiting any furtherpublication of a photograph of her and her husband. The photograph that was the subject of the litigation waspublished in the magazine 7 Tage in 2002. It was taken without the Princess’ knowledge while on holiday andit illustrated an article about the trend among the very wealthy towards letting out their holiday homes. Withreasoning similar to that of Von Hannover no. 2, the European Court could not find a violation of Article 8 of theConvention.The European Court refers to its judgments in Axel Springer AG v. Germany and Von Hannover no. 2 v. Germany(see IRIS 2012-3/1) in which it set forth the relevant criteria for balancing the right to respect for private life (Article8) against the right to freedom of expression (Article 10). These were: contribution to a debate of general interest;how well-known the person concerned was; the subject of the report; the prior conduct of the person concerned;the content, form and consequences of the publication; and, in the case of photographs, the circumstancesin which they were taken. The Court refers to the findings by the German courts that, while the photographin question had not contributed to a debate of general interest, the article with the litigious picture, however,reported on the current trend among celebrities towards letting out their holiday homes, which constituted anevent of general interest. The article did not contain particular information concerning the private life of thePrincess, as it focused on practical aspects relating to the Von Hannover’s villa and its letting. The Court alsoreferred to the fact that the Princess and her husband were to be regarded as public figures who could notclaim protection of their private lives in the same way as individuals unknown to the public. The European Courtconcluded that the German courts had not failed to comply with their positive obligations to protect the right ofprivacy in its confrontation with the freedom of press. Therefore there had been no violation of Article 8 of theConvention.• Arrêt de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (Cinquième section), affaire Von Hannover n◦ 3 c. Allemagne, requête n◦8772/10 du 19septembre 2013 (Judgment by the European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), case of Von Hannover no. 3 v. Germany, Appl. No. 8772/10 of19 September 2013)http://merlin.obs.coe.int/redirect.php?id=16720FRDirk VoorhoofGhent University (Belgium) & Copenhagen University (Denmark) & Member of the Flemish Regulator for theMediaThe objective of IRIS is to publish information on legal and law-related policy developments that are relevant to theEuropean audiovisual sector. Despite our efforts to ensure the accuracy of the content, the ultimate responsibilityfor the truthfulness of the facts on which we report is with the authors of the articles. Any opinions expressedin the articles are personal and should in no way be interpreted as representing the views of any organisationsrepresented in its editorial board.© European Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg (France)IRIS 1

European Court of Human Rights: Case of Von Hannover nr. 3 v. Germany

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European Court of Human Rights: Case of Von Hannover nr. 3 v. Germany

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography