Search
document

Document text Analytics

CASE OF JERSILD AGAINST DENMARK

Doc ref: 15890/89 • ECHR ID: 001-55633

Document date: September 11, 1995

Inbound citations: 0
•
Cited paragraphs: 0
•
Outbound citations: 0

CASE OF JERSILD AGAINST DENMARK

Doc ref: 15890/89 • ECHR ID: 001-55633

Document date: September 11, 1995

Cited paragraphs only

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 54

(art. 54) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention"),

Having regard to the judgment of the European Court of Human

Rights in the Jersild case delivered on 23 September 1994 and

transmitted the same day to the Committee of Ministers;

Recalling that the case originated in an application

(No. 15890/89) against Denmark lodged with the European Commission

of Human Rights on 25 July 1989, under Article 25 (art. 25) of the

Convention by Mr Jens Olaf Jersild, a Danish national, and that the

Commission declared admissible his complaint that his conviction

violated his right to freedom of expression under Article 10

(art. 10) of the Convention;

Recalling that the case was brought before the Court by the

Commission and, thereafter, by the Government of Denmark

on 9 September and 11 October 1993, respectively;

Whereas in its judgment of 23 September 1994 the Court:

- held, by twelve votes to seven, that there had been a

violation of Article 10 (art. 10) of the Convention;

- held, by seventeen votes to two, that Denmark was to pay the

applicant, within three months, 1 000 Danish kroner in compensation

for pecuniary damage; and for costs and expenses, the sums

resulting from the calculations to be made in accordance with

paragraph 45 of the judgment;

- dismissed, unanimously, the remainder of the claim for just

satisfaction;

Having regard to the Rules adopted by the Committee of

Ministers concerning the application of Article 54 (art. 54) of the

Convention;

Having invited the Government of Denmark to inform it of the

measures which had been taken in consequence of the judgment of

23 September 1994, having regard to Denmark's obligation under

Article 53 (art. 53) of the Convention to abide by it;

Whereas, during the examination of the case by the Committee

of Ministers, the Government of Denmark gave the Committee

information about the measures taken in consequence of the

judgment, which information appears in the appendix to this

resolution;

Having satisfied itself that the Government of Denmark paid

the applicant, within the time limit set, the sum provided for in

the judgment of 23 September 1994,

Declares, after having taken note of the information supplied

by the Government of Denmark, that it has exercised its functions

under Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention in this case.

Appendix to Resolution DH (95) 212

Information provided by the Government of Denmark

during the examination of the Jersild case

by the Committee of Ministers

Following the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights

in the Jersild case, the Danish Supreme Court acquitted, in a

judgment of 28 October 1994, a journalist who had been charged with

invasion of privacy by entering without permission an area which

was not accessible to the public. The journalist had, together

with a cameraman and a soundman, been covering a demonstration

which was heading towards the house of the Danish Minister for

Environmental Questions. When the demonstration entered the

minister's garden and started to dig up the lawn, the journalist

followed them and continued her reporting.

In the City Court of Copenhagen and in the Eastern Division of

the High Court the journalist was found guilty as charged. She was

sentenced to pay day-fines (dagböter) totalling 500 Danish kroner,

or, alternatively, five days' imprisonment. However, the Supreme

Court acquitted the journalist as it found that this result was

most in keeping with the jurisprudence of the European Court of

Human Rights concerning Article 10 (art. 10). In this connection

the Supreme Court made a special reference to the Jersild judgment

as the latest authority.

This example is but one of quite a number of judgments from

the Supreme Court and the High Courts in recent years which

demonstrate that the courts are directly inspired by the European

Convention on Human Rights and the Strasbourg case-law in their

interpretation of Danish law (see, inter alia, the numerous cases

cited in Betaenkning No. 1220 from 1991: "On the Incorporation of

the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in

Danish Law"). There is, accordingly, no reason to doubt that also

the interpretation of the 1991 Media Liability Act

(Medieansvarsloven, 1991: No. 348) will be based on the principles

which emerge from the judgment of the European Court of Human

Rights in the Jersild case.

It should also be pointed out that following the Jersild

judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, the Special Court

of Revision has decided on 24 January 1995 to allow the case

against, inter alia, Mr Jersild to be reopened.

LEXI

Lexploria AI Legal Assistant