In a case builds upon pre-existing caselaw on the rights of those who are deceased the European Court of Human Rights has found an article 8 breach in relation to news articles posted about a deceased Roman Catholic Priest.
ML v Slovakia 34159/17 concerned a number of articles published by three Slovakian newspapers about the historic sex offence convictions of the claimants son.
The Court found that the articles were inaccurate and sensationalist citing that: “However, it follows from what has been said above that the domestic courts failed to carry out a balancing exercise between the applicant’s right to private life and the newspaper publishers’ freedom of expression in conformity with the criteria laid down in the Court’s case-law.”
Concluding the Courts stated, applying Article 8:
“…dealing appropriately with the dead out of respect for the feelings of the deceased’s relatives falls within the scope of Article 8 of the Convention”.
Furthermore the Court stated a clear and concise view on the journalistic integrity of the reporting: “Although the journalists must be afforded some degree of exaggeration or even provocation, the Court considers that the frivolous and unverified statements about the applicants sons private life must be taken to have gone beyond the limits of responsible journalism” -p.47
The Privacy Perspective 