Communicated on 14 January 2020

Published on 3 February 2020

THIRD SECTION

Application no. 34159/17 M.L . against Slovakia lodged on 5 May 2017

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the protection of the applicant ’ s private and family life in defamation proceedings that the applicant instituted against the publishers of several tabloid newspapers having published articles about her deceased son (catholic priest), accompanied by his pictures.

Under Article 8 of the Convention, the applicant complains that the articles published in 2008, two years after her son ’ s death, contained mainly unsubstantiated information and did not objectively report on her deceased son ’ s criminal conviction of sexual abuse of minors, which moreover dated back to 1999 and ha d been subject to rehabilitation since 2001. In her opinion, the impugned articles were rather sensational and aimed at increasing the newspapers ’ sale figures, while the domestic courts failed to achieve a fair balance between her right to respect for private and family life, including mourning of her son, and the defendants ’ right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

Has there been a violation of the applicant ’ s right to respect for her private and family life within the meaning of Article 8 of the Convention, as a result of the nationwide dissemination of articles concerning her deceased son?

In particular, has the applicant been directly affected by the articles in question (see Putistin v. Ukraine , no. 16882/03, § 38, 21 November 2013)? Did the domestic courts strike an appropriate balance between the applicant ’ s rights and those of the newspaper publishers?