Cases

Mariapori v Finland

Held

Finding a violation of Article 10.

The Appellant's conviction, the conditional prison sentence imposed constituted an interference with her Article 10 rights. Civil servants acting in an official capacity are, like politicians, subject to wider limits of acceptable criticism. Those limits may in some circumstances be wider with regard to civil servants exercising their powers than in relation to private individuals. It cannot be said that civil servants knowingly lay themselves open to close scrutiny of their every word and deed to the same extent as politicians and should therefore be treated on an equal footing with the latter when it comes to the criticism of their actions. The book could be characterised as a polemical document or pamphlet attempting to contribute to a public debate. It mainly described the Applicant's views about the actions of the tax authorities, including that of the named tax inspector. The imposition of a prison sentence for a defamation offence will be compatible with an applicant's right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 10 of the Convention only in exceptional circumstances, notably where other fundamental rights have been seriously impaired, as, for example, in the case of hate speech or incitement to violence. The circumstances of the instant case – a classic case of defamation of an individual in the context of a debate on an important matter of legitimate public interest, namely the actions of the tax authorities – present no justification whatsoever for the imposition of a prison sentence. Such a sanction, by its very nature, will inevitably have a chilling effect on public debate. The severity of the sanctions imposed went beyond a "necessary" restriction of the Applicant's freedom of expression.

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