The Right to Privacy for Children on the Internet: New Developments in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights
In recent years, the European Court of Human Rights has published an increasing number of decisions on the right to privacy for children online. In its case law, the Court addresses the vulnerable position of minors in a digital environment. The aim of this chapter is two fold. First, it seeks to analyse recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to respect for private life (Article 8 ECHR) for children on the Internet. Second, it aims to investigate and critically discuss whether the characteristics of online modes of communications have sufficiently been taken into account by the European Court in its case law on the right to privacy for children.
Jacobs, White & Ovey: The European Convention on Human Rights
PART 1. INSTITUTIONS AND PROCEDURES 1. Context, background and institutions 2. Proceedings before the court 3. Supervising the enforcement of judgments 4. The scope of the convention 5. Reservations and derogations 6. Interpreting the convention PART 2. CONVENTION RIGHTS 7. The right to an effective remedy 8. The right to life 9. Prohibition of torture 10. Protection from slavery and forced labour 11. Personal liberty and security 12. The right to a fair trial in civil and criminal cases 13. Aspects of the criminal process 14. Limitations common to articles 8 to 11 15. Protecting family life 16. Protecting private life 17. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion 18. Freedom of expression 19. Freedom of assembly and association 20. Protection of property 21. The right to education 22. The right to free elections 23. Freedom of movement 24. Freedom from discrimination PART 3. REFLECTIONS 25. Results and prospects
Criminalising fabricated images of child pornography: a matter of harm or morality?
This paper addresses the criminalisation of fabricated images of child pornography. Focusing on the new offence of possessing ‘non-photographic pornographic images of children’ (NPPIC) under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, it assesses whether harm- and morality-based arguments legitimate the extension of the criminal law to this activity. I contend that harm may be caused to children by NPPIC that are depictions of real child sexual abuse, and images that depict the fantasy sexual abuse of a real, recognisable child. However, it is extremely difficult to find a legitimate basis for prohibiting the possession of fantasy, completely fabricated NPPIC through a reasoned application of the harm principle and thus criminalisation of such images is not justified. Adopting a liberal perspective, I argue that moral harm-based arguments ultimately fail to convince, since legal moralism or moral paternalism should not be acceptable grounds for criminalisation. I conclude that a stronger case for criminalisation would have been made had the offence been limited to NPPIC depicting real child sexual abuse, or featuring real, recognisable children, or targeted at creators and distributors rather than possessors.