Avenue de l'Europe
Björk Eidsdottir v. Iceland 
| 2012
This is great. This is a major victory for all of us in the press.
Björk Eidsdottir, quoted by Visir - © Photo: MAN magasín / Ásta Kristjánsdóttir
Björk Eidsdottir is a journalist. She published allegations from a dancer in a strip club that the owner of the club had kept his staff under effective house arrest and made them work as prostitutes. The club owner sued Björk for defamation. He succeeded and she was ordered to pay damages.
The article concerned a matter of public interest. It was published in good faith and with due diligence. In particular, it quoted members of the strip club’s staff, and the owner speaking in his defence. Making Björk liable for defamation in these circumstances had breached her right to freedom of expression.
The Icelandic authorities organised training seminars for judges and other legal professionals in Iceland to help avoid similar violations in the future.
Brigitte Heinisch was a geriatric nurse. She claimed that practices in the old people’s home where she worked were putting patients at risk. After she made her allegations public, she was fired. Yet, the German courts found that her dismissal was lawful - so Mrs Heinisch took her case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Her case was then re-opened and she won compensation.
In the early 1980s Thorgeir Thorgeirson wrote articles claiming that there was a problem with police brutality in Reykjavik. His reporting was based on the prosecution of a police officer and various public allegations. Nevertheless, he was convicted for defaming the police. The European court ruled that this had violated his right to freedom of expression, leading to free speech reforms.
Elina Goussev and Michael Marenk were protesting against the fur trade. Police searched their homes and seized campaign materials. The European court ruled that this had breached their right to free speech, as the seizure had not been clearly justified by Finnish law. After the case had been submitted to the court, reforms were made to prevent arbitrary seizures.
Iceland
Germany
Finland