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Case Studies
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International Women’s Day: Digital Rights Advocate Gladys Mbuyah
Gladys Mbuyah is a barrister and renowned human rights activist working in Cameroon. She has been part of Media Defence’s network for several years, having attended our digital rights litigation surgeries. She is currently part of our peer support programme for women lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa. President of the Cameroon Bar Association Social Affairs Commission,…
Emilio Palacio Urrutia v Ecuador: The judgment paving the way for anti-SLAPP regulations in the Americas
SLAPPs are a form of legal harassment that have the purpose of driving information that is in the public interest into the darkness. These types of cases – aiming to silence speech on matters of public interest – are becoming a more common tool used by powerful individuals against journalists. Thankfully, awareness around them is…
Paola Ugaz and the judicial harassment of journalists in Peru
Paola Ugaz is an award-winning Peruvian investigative journalist. In 2015, she co-authored – with Pedro Salinas – a book entitled Mitad Monjes, Mitad Soldados (Half-Monks, Half Soldiers). The book uncovers an alleged pattern of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse within the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Peruvian Catholic organisation. Paola Ugaz has since faced numerous lawsuits…
European Court Grand Chamber finds conviction of whistle-blower in Luxleaks case breached his right to freedom of expression
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the criminal conviction of Luxleaks whistle-blower Raphaël Halet in Luxembourg in 2016 was a violation of his article 10 right to freedom of expression. In doing so, the Grand Chamber has made some important observations about the vital role whistle-blowers increasingly…
Media Defence intervenes at ECtHR in case concerning costs regime in English defamation cases
Media Defence has submitted a third party intervention at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Malkiewicz and others v UK. The case relates to a defamation action brought against the applicants over an article published in a Polish language newspaper based in London. The proceedings lasted around six years, and went…
Italian journalist who published menswear company executives’ payslips acquitted of privacy violation charges
The Criminal Court of Pescara, Italy, has held that reporter Mauro D’Agostino did not breach the law by publishing payslips of executives at the top of a luxury menswear company. The context: top executives received large bonuses whilst hundreds of employees were fired D’Agostino worked for the online newspaper corrierequotidiano.it. In 2017, he wrote a…
Impact Publications
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Learning Report 2022
Read our Learning Report 2022 Media Defence values the importance of learning and improvement. We undertake a variety of internal and external evaluations each year in order to understand the effectiveness and relevance of our programmes, ensuring that we learn from the experiences of the lawyers and journalists involved. We also do this to explore…
Lawyer Impact Survey 2022
About the survey Read our Lawyer Impact Survey 2022 In 2022, we carried out our third Lawyer Impact Survey to assess the impact of our support to lawyers. We support lawyers with both our emergency defence and our strategic litigation programmes. Through these programmes, we offer pro bono legal support, as well as financial support…
A Year in Review: Our 2022 Annual Report
The report Click here to read our 2022 Annual Report Media Defence has launched its 2022 annual report, marking the end of a pivotal year for freedom of expression. The year 2022 has presented us with a worrying decline in press freedom. In response to their work, journalists around the world have faced legal harassment,…
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