CountryType of Law 
 
 
On trial for criminal defamation, German freelance journalists faced “existential threat” Pair convicted in 2010 over investigative report on Saxony child prostitution scandal amid questions of court bias

On trial for criminal defamation, German freelance journalists faced “existential threat” Pair convicted in 2010 over investigative report on Saxony child prostitution scandal amid questions of court bias

by | Sep 11, 2014 | Germany, News

German freelance journalists Thomas Datt and Arndt Ginzel could have been forgiven for assuming that their 2010 criminal trial for defamation would end in an acquittal. The application of Germany’s criminal libel provisions to journalists, as commentators observed, was itself already so unusual that the possibility of an actual conviction must have seemed utterly inconceivable.

EU defamation laws fall dramatically short of international standards, IPI report indicates In vast majority of member states, defamation remains criminal offence punishable by imprisonment

EU defamation laws fall dramatically short of international standards, IPI report indicates In vast majority of member states, defamation remains criminal offence punishable by imprisonment

by | Jul 17, 2014 | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, FYROM Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, News, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom

VIENNA, July 17, 2014 – An International Press Institute (IPI) report on defamation law in the European Union (EU) indicates that EU member states fall dramatically short of fulfilling relevant international standards on freedom of expression, with the vast majority maintaining criminal defamation provisions that threaten the media’s ability to report on matters in the public interest.