Freedom of political debate in the media in the light of Council of Europe standards

Alicja Jaskiernia

The Council of Europe (hereafter referred to as COE) develops a catalogue of values regarding freedom of speech by creating conventional (legally binding) standards, as well as standards belonging to the domain of so-called 'soft law' (recommendations, declarations, resolutions). The 2004 Declaration on freedom of political debate in the media adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the COE pertains to previous documents issued by the COE in this domain. It is rooted in Art. 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights as well as in the European Court of Human Rights' judicature. In its content the Declaration emphasises the fundamental role of freedom of speech as far as public affairs of a democratic society are concerned. The context in which the Declaration was adopted seems to suggest the need for such a document was determined by COE's concern about the practice of imposing criminal sanctions in order to undermine freedom of the media. And such practices have been observed in some of COE member states. The Declaration clearly shifts the focus towards freedom of the media, defining a broad framework for criticising politicians and officials.

KEYWORDS

Council of Europe, standard of the freedom of speech, European Court of Human Rights' judicature