Articolul 10 din Convenție. Libertatea de exprimare. Neîncălcare.
Article 10 of the Convention. Freedom of speech. Non-violation.

Summary/Abstract: The conviction of a journalist to a criminal fine constitutes an interference in the exercise of the right provided by Article 10 (1) of the Convention. The Court, recalling the importance of the role of the press in the field of criminal justice, pointed out that any interference must be examined with the utmost caution, given that in a democratic society, acts of concealment of the breach of the confidentiality of criminal investigation or professional secrecy are sanctioned, on the one hand, and on the other hand, journalists participate in public debates of great importance, thus exercising their mission as “watchdogsˮ of democracy. Any interference in the exercise of the right enshrined in Article 10 of the Convention must be provided by law, pursue the achievement of one or more legitimate purposes listed in Article 10 (2) and be necessary in a democratic society to the achievement of these purposes. An interference based on the need to guarantee the confidentiality of the criminal investigation aims at ensuring its smooth running and, at the same time, at protecting the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. Regarding the level of protection, Article 10 paragraph 2 of the Convention allows the restriction of freedom of expression only in two areas: political discourse and issues of general interest. A high level of protection of the freedom of expression must be accompanied by a limited scope for action by the authorities, which is normally the case for comments on the functioning of the judicial authorities, even when the judicial procedure in question is not completed. The protection that Article 10 offers to journalists is subject to the condition that they act in good faith, in order to provide accurate and reliable information, in accordance with the principles of responsible journalism, a concept that covers not only the content of information collected and/or disseminated through journalistic means, but it also encompasses the legitimacy of journalists' behavior. In addition, a fair balance must be struck between the interests at stake. The criteria which should guide the national authorities of the signatory States to the Convention when balancing the interests at stake, in order to determine the “necessaryˮ nature of the interference in cases which call into question the secrecy of the criminal investigation concern: the manner in which the applicant acquired the disputed information; the content of the press article; the contribution of the contested article to a debate of general interest; the influence of the disputed article on the conduct of the criminal proceedings; the infringement of the privacy of the accused person and the proportionality of the sanction applied to the journalist.

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