Media Defence Intervenes in Key A2I Case
The Media Legal Defence Initiative has coordinated a coalition of organisations and submitted filed written comments with the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, urging the Court to clarify its position on the right of access to information under the European Convention. MLDI has intervened alongside Article 19, the Campaign for Freedom of Information, the […]
Media Defence Intervenes in Pivotal Privacy Case
Years after French, German and English media revealed that Monaco’s reigning monarch, Prince Albert II, had an illegitimate child, the Media Legal Defence Initiative has intervened in the subsequent legal case that has reached the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. The case started when the child’s mother gave interviews to the media […]
Burundi Journalists’ Union v Attorney-General of Burundi: a positive judgment in the midst of a crisis
On 15 May 2015, the East African Court of Justice (the “EACJ”) delivered its judgment in Burundi Journalists Union v. The Attorney General of the Republic of Burundi, in which it considered Law No.1/11 (the “Press Law”) regulating the press, film and broadcasting sectors in Burundi. Even though the EACJ does not have explicit human rights […]
Open justice victory in Ugandan case
On 20 October 2014, the High Court of Uganda ordered that the trial of Ronald Poteri, a police detective accused of leaking secret audio recordings between the Ugandan Inspector General of Police and youths from the ruling National Resistance Movement Party, should be open to journalists and the public. The High Court quashed an earlier […]
Challenging the Constitutionality of Criminal Defamation
Former journalist of the Sowetan, Cecil Motsepe, wrote a series of articles in 2009 about the allegedly racist conduct of judge Marius Serfontein. In one article, he wrote that Serfontein had given a white woman a lighter sentence than he had given a black man, despite the fact that both were convicted of the […]
Marshal Muchende on getting Zambia’s “false news” law struck down
The 4th of December 2014 was a defining moment in Zambian legal history. In a landmark judgment, High Court Judge Isaac Chali struck down the provisions of section 67 of the Penal Code which prohibited the publication of so-called “false news”, joining Zambia’s name to the list of countries who have similarly held that […]
Inter-American Court to Hear Key Licensing Case
MLDI has filed an intervention in the case of Marcel Granier and others vs. Venezuela, before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, concerning the denial of a licence to Venezuelan broadcaster Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) in 2007. RCTV was one of Venezuela’s oldest stations and a frequent critic of former President Hugo Chávez’s government. Although the Venezuelan government offered various, […]
Pakistan High Court orders YouTube unblocked
Twenty months after YouTube was blocked by the Pakistani government, the High Court of Lahore held yesterday that YouTube should be unblocked in Pakistan. The High Court decision was made in the context of a wider constitutional challenge that was filed by Pakistani NGO Bytes for All in January 2013, addressing the broader practice by […]
Media Defence Intervenes in David Miranda High Court Challenge
The High Court is hearing the judicial review application of David Miranda in relation to his detention earlier this year under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Media Legal Defence Initiative together with Article 19 and English PEN intervened in the case, arguing that Mr Miranda’s detention under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act was in violation of […]
East African Court petitioned on Burundi Press Law
Burundi’s Press Law, which received widespread international criticism when it was adopted including by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, only allows for approved individuals to become ‘journalists’ and outlaws basic investigative journalism. It is directed at broadcast as well as print journalism and places strict prohibitions on what can be published, making it impossible for the media to expose corruption or […]
Media Defence Intervention Helps Defeat Prior Notification Demand
MLDI helped win an ECHR ruling confirming that media are not require to notify those on whom they are publishing stories. MLDI intervened in the case of Mosley v UK, in which former FIA president Max Mosley requested a ruling at the European Court of Human Rights that the media be required to notify all those […]
Media Defence Leads Intervention at European Court to Protect Journalistic Sources
MLDI led a coalition of several interveners to urge the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights to recognise enhanced protection for journalistic sources. The Media Legal Defence Initiative worked with the applicants’ lawyers and led a coalition of interveners in the case of Sanoma v. the Netherlands, before the Grand Chamber of the […]