CASE OF MAC TV S.R.O. v. SLOVAKIA
Violation of Article 10 - Freedom of expression-{general} (Article 10-1 - Freedom of expression)
Alena Poláčková;Branko Lubarda;Dmitry Dedov;Helen Keller;Helena Jäderblom;Luis López Guerra;Pere Pastor Vilanova
6. The applicant company was established in 1991 and has its registered office in Bratislava. It is the operator of two private television channels and the broadcaster of a television programme, JOJ PLUS. The present case concerns a commentary (glosa) delivered during a television programme broadcast on 12 April 2010 after the crash of the plane in which the late President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, had been travelling. 7. The commentary’s title was “Compassion in Accordance with Protocol”; the commentary contained the following: “The crash of a Polish plane carrying the presidential couple on board is a true human tragedy. The whole of Poland is in mourning and politicians are more or less expressing their condolences. That is required by diplomatic protocol. Thus, Slovak russophile politicians too shed a tear, albeit a forced one, over the death of the russophobe, Lech Kaczynski. Even ordinary citizens, not bound by any protocol, are expressing their sorrow. Jews, homosexuals, liberals, feminists and leftoriented intellectuals are bitterly sorry for the death of a man who represented an extreme Polish conservativism, and who was a symbol of a country where people who are not white heterosexual Catholic Poles were born as a punishment. I am sorry, but I do not pity Poles. I envy them.” 8. Following the broadcast of the above-mentioned commentary, the Broadcasting Council (Rada pre vysielanie a retransmisiu) commenced administrative proceedings against the applicant company, pursuant to section 19(1)(a) of the Broadcasting and Retransmission Act (Law no. 308/2000 Coll., as amended - “the Broadcasting Act”), on 25 May 2010. 9. On 14 September 2010 the Broadcasting Council found that the applicant company had breached its obligations under the Broadcasting Act in that the manner of processing and presenting the content of the commentary had interfered with the dignity of the late Polish President, Lech Kaczynski. It fined the applicant company 5,000 euros (EUR). 10. The Broadcasting Council assessed the conflict between the applicant company’s freedom of expression and the protection of the human dignity of the late President. On the one hand, it acknowledged the aim of the commentator to express his opinion and his subjective stance on the social and political event through criticism, sarcasm and irony, which were inherent to journalistic expression. On the other hand, where the Broadcasting Council found difficulties was in particular the content of the last two sentences of the commentary (“I am sorry, but I do not pity the Poles. I envy them”). The Broadcasting Council concluded that the manner in which the commentator had presented his opinion – that is to say his lack of regret for the Polish President’s death – had contravened the duty to respect his human dignity. According to the Broadcasting Council, the degree of sarcasm and irony in the broadcast commentary had been so high that its content and the manner in which the author’s opinion had been presented had been substandard and had dishonoured the late President. 11. The Broadcasting Council noted that Mr Kaczynski, as President, was sufficiently recognisable as an “individual”, which was a prerequisite for the applicability of the protection of the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of “others” under section 19(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act. It concluded that by broadcasting the aforesaid commentary the applicant company had committed an administrative offence (správny delikt) – in particular a breach of its duties under the said provision – and that imposing a fine on it in that respect was in order. It considered such a measure to be necessary in a democratic society, as it served a legitimate aim – that is to say the protection of the right to human dignity. 12. On 10 March 2011 the Supreme Court upheld the Broadcasting Council’s decision. It rejected the applicant company’s argument that the Broadcasting Council had sanctioned it for voicing its political opinion. Rather, the Supreme Court confirmed the Broadcasting Council’s conclusion about the defamatory character of the commentary in question and the interference with the late President’s human dignity. 13. The applicant company lodged a complaint before the Constitutional Court challenging the decisions of the Broadcasting Council and the Supreme Court under Articles 6 § 1 and 10 of the Convention and Articles 26 (freedom of expression) and 46 (right to judicial protection) of the Constitution. It alleged that the decisions in question had been arbitrary, unfair and insufficiently reasoned and that their respective authors had breached its freedom of expression by sanctioning it for voicing its opinion regarding the late President as a politician. 14. On 27 July 2011 the Constitutional Court rejected the applicant company’s complaint. It considered, inter alia, that the above-mentioned authorities had duly explained their conclusions, without having overly strayed from a reasonable interpretation of the applicable rules and established practice. The Constitutional Court noted that the impugned commentary had expressed not only sarcasm and criticism of the late President’s policy but also a positive attitude towards his death. This very fact had interfered with his right to respect for his human dignity, which led the Constitutional Court to conclude that the domestic authorities’ decisions had not been arbitrary. As to the applicant company’s complaint under Article 10 of the Convention (and Article 26 of the Constitution), the Constitutional Court held that a general court could not bear “secondary liability” for a violation of fundamental rights and freedoms of a substantive nature unless there had been a constitutionally relevant violation of procedural rules. Given that it had rejected the complaint concerning the alleged violation of procedural rules, it also had to reject the complaint relating to an alleged violation of a substantive provision.