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Advanced Modules on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online
We have developed an eReader which is now home to the new Advanced Modules on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online. Our eReader has been developed as part of our Digital Rights Advocates Project (DRAP). The Modules are fully searchable, easily copied and pasted, and downloadable as PDFs.
Interventions & Amicus Briefs
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European Court Finds Turkey Violated Cumhuriyet Journalists’ Rights to Liberty and Security, Freedom of Expression, Detained in the Crackdown Following July 2016 Coup
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Turkey violated the Article 5(1)(c) and 10 rights of ten journalists working at the prominent Turkish newspaper, Cumhuriyet. The journalists were arrested and detained in the government crackdown following the July 2016 attempted coup. Media Defence intervened as a third party in the case, along…
Media Defence Files Amicus Curiae Brief Before Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice on the Use of Force During Protests
On 22 September 2020, Media Defence filed an amicus curiae brief before Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice, in a case challenging the constitutionality of the country’s national Law on the Use of Force. The brief, filed together with Article 19 (Office for Mexico and Central America), examines international legal standards governing the use of force,…
Presentación de Amicus Curiae Ante la SCNJ, Sobre el Uso de la Fuerza Pública Durante Protestas
El 22 de septiembre, las organizaciones no gubernamentales Media Defence y ARTICLE 19, oficina para México y Centroamérica, presentamos un Amicus Curiae ante la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación, con motivo de la discusión que tendrá lugar en la Corte sobre la constitucionalidad de la Ley Nacional del Uso de la Fuerza. La…
Colombian Supreme Court Clarifies Rules Around Protection of Human Rights During Social Protests
On 22 September 2020, the Supreme Court of Colombia handed down judgment condemning the violent repression of anti-government protests in November 2019, during which security forces attacked, arrested and detained protesters, human rights defenders and journalists reporting on the national demonstrations. The Court ruled on a tutela*, filed by several citizens and civil society organisations,…
Strasbourg Court Finds Hungary Violated Journalists’ Right of Access to Parliament
The ECtHR has held today that Hungary violated the Article 10 freedom of expression rights of six journalists who, in April 2016, were subject to an indefinite ban preventing them from entering the premises of Hungary’s Parliament to carry out their work. The ban was imposed by the Speaker of Parliament due to the journalists’…
European Court of Human Rights Finds Hungary’s Refusal to Allow Journalist Access to Asylum Seekers’ Centre Interfered with Press Freedom
The European Court of Human Rights has held that a refusal to grant a journalist access to an asylum seeker reception centre in Hungary violated his right to freedom of expression. In its decision, Szurovecz v Hungary, the court emphasised that newsgathering, including first-hand observation, is an essential part of press freedom. Media Defence intervened in…
Free Speech Organisations Submit Amicus Brief in Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case on Criminal Defamation
Media Defence and seven other free speech organisations have today filed an amicus brief before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the IACtHR) in the case of Tulio Álvarez v Venezuela. The case concerns the use of criminal legislation, including harsh and wide-ranging penalties, to stifle freedom of expression, and highlights the potential for abuse…
Third Party Intervention in ‘Foreign Agent Law’ Case Before the ECtHR
Media Defence has filed a third party intervention before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Levada Centre and others v. Russia. The case concerns a challenge to the requirement for Russian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that receive foreign funding and engage in ‘political activities’ to register as ‘foreign agents’ under the…
Media Defence Intervenes Before European Court in Important Environmental Journalism Case
Media Defence and ARTICLE 19 have filed an intervention before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Bryan and others v. Russia. This case concerns the events that followed the boarding of the ‘Arctic Sunrise,’ the Greenpeace vessel that was seized by the Russian authorities in September 2013, and the detention of the crew on…
Legal Factsheets
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Defending the Media in Satire Cases: Factsheet
Satire is not an easy concept to define. Jonathan Greenberg, in The Cambridge Introduction to Satire, manages to summarise the diverse satirical writings of raunchy Restoration-era poets, the author Salmon Rushdie and New York Times food critic Pete Wells as all sharing one key attribute: "…none of the writing is merely a work of aggression…
Defending the Media in Defamation Cases: Factsheet
Defamation can be described in a number of ways – but is broadly understood as the communication of a false statement that unjustly causes harm or detriment to legal or natural person's reputation. Defamation laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Therefore, the first step in defending any defamation claim is to identify the applicable jurisdiction…
Training Manuals
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Manual on European Defamation Law
The Media Legal Defence Initiative and the International Press Institute have published a powerful new tool for defending the European media’s right to report on matters of public interest. A comprehensive reference and training manual for lawyers and journalists on European legal standards related to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation, “Freedom of Expression, Media…
Media Defence Manual on Freedom of Expression Law
The Media Defence manual on international and comparative media and freedom of expression law consists of a 136-page guide to international and comparative freedom of expression law, introducing topics ranging from defamation to national security restrictions on free speech, accompanied by a set of powerpoint slides for use by trainers. The manual can also be…
Media Defence Manual on Litigating Freedom of Expression Cases in East Africa
This manual is designed to assist lawyers representing journalists and bloggers at the regional level in East Africa. It therefore concentrates on setting out the processes and procedures for filing and arguing human rights cases before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the East…
Training Manual on Litigation and Freedom of Expression in West Africa
To help equip lawyers to promote freedom of expression we are sharing our West Africa Regional Mechanisms Training Manual which provides tools and advice on litigating in defence of freedom of expression in West Africa. If you are interested in learning how to litigate cases on freedom of expression and protecting the rights of the…
Media Defence Training Manual on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online
The Media Defence Training Manual on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online is designed to assist lawyers represent web-based journalists, bloggers and other online media. It comprises a comprehensive overview of international and comparative law on access to the internet, digital privacy and online data protection as well as specific types of speech-related offences…
Media Defence Digital Rights Litigation Guide
The Media Defence Digital Rights Litigation Guide provides practical information in respect to litigating online freedom of expression cases in East, West and Southern Africa. It includes general tips and strategies as well as specific guidance on bringing cases before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights,…