Published on 4 October 2021

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 2156/16 Lucian-Adrian UNGUR against Romania lodged on 22 December 2015 communicated on 16 September 2021

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the dismissal by a final judgment of the Cluj Court of Appeal of 25 June 2015 of an action brought by the applicant against a journalist and the company owning a local online newspaper ( Bistriţeanul.ro ). The applicant had brought the action under general tort law complaining of the publication, on 27 January 2012, of an allegedly defamatory article entitled “ The Lucky Hungarian wants to buy our silence ” ( Unguru Bulan vrea să ne cumpere tăcerea ). Relying on Article 8 of the Convention the applicant complained about a breach of his rights to honour and private life because the domestic courts failed to protect his aforementioned rights, assessed the circumstances of the case wrongly and failed to strike a proper balance between the opposing interests at stake.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Has there been an interference with the applicant’s right to private life within the meaning of Article 8 § 1 of the Convention having regard to the content of the article in question?

2. If so, was that interference justified under Article 8 § 2 of the Convention? In particular, did the domestic judicial authorities adequately balance, in the light of the criteria established in the Court’s case-law, the applicant’s right to respect for his private life and the defendants’ right to freedom of expression?