National courts failed to protect high-profile defence lawyer’s reputation against clergyman’s accusations on live television (ECtHR)

In Chamber's judgment in the case of Ramishvili v. Georgia (application no. 4100/24) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned civil defamation proceedings brought by the applicant, a well-known defence lawyer, against a prominent clergyman of the Georgian Orthodox Church, for statements he had made during a televised interview accusing him of being a “snitch” and feeding information to the secret services.

The Court found that the clergyman’s statements had been made in the context of a matter of public interest, namely a high-profile criminal case, and that the applicant himself was a public figure who therefore had to show higher tolerance of others’ opinions. 

However, the accusations against him had been very serious and should have had a solid basis in fact to be protected under the Convention. Instead of looking into whether this had been the case, the national courts had placed the burden of proof on the applicant to rebut the accusations against him.

The Court therefore considered that the courts had failed to strike a fair balance between Mr Ramishvili’s right to respect for his dignity and reputation, on the one hand, and the clergyman’s freedom of expression, on the other.

The Court held that Georgia was to pay the applicant 4,500 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 5,000 in respect of costs and expenses. 

The decision is available here

(source:echr.coe.int/photo freepik.com)


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