Cases

Egeland v Norway

Comment

In what is bound to be considered a controversial case, the court's decision was based both on the desirability of protecting the privacy of the person convicted as safeguarding due process—the two factors contributing to a pressing social need that outweighed the freedom to publish. The Court suggested that the privacy issue had been 'predominant' in its reasoning. This decision certainly builds upon the existing jurisprudence of the Court where privacy interests in photographs are concerned—the public interest in the underlying subject matter in this case being much more acute than in von Hannover v Germany. The Court does not appear to have considered the public interest in disclosing the emotional impact of convictions as having a deterrent affect on serious crime. This decision arose out of the same facts as P4 Radio Hele Norge ASA v Norway, application no. 76682/01.

Areas of work

Human Rights
Media Law
Privacy and Confidence
Publishing
Reporting the Courts

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