Communicated on 11 October 2018

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 38549/16 Jadranka KOSTOVA and Vlado APOSTOLOV against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia lodged on 28 April 2016

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns civil proceedings for defamation brought against the applicants, who are journalists, for having published an article in a weekly newspaper about S.M., the head of the State Security and Counter ‑ Intelligence Agency at the time. In the article they quoted I.I., a State ‑ official who had said, among other things, that S.M. had abused his power by taking actions that had adversely affected I.I . ’ s interests in a private matter which took place abroad.

Two levels of civil courts found the applicants responsible for having defamed S.M. in that they had published the article without having previously made an attempt to verify the allegations made by I.I. The Constitutional Court upheld those findings.

QUESTION tO THE PARTIES

Has there been an interference with the applicants ’ freedom of expression within the meaning of Article 10 § 1 of the Convention? If so, was that interference prescribed by law and neces sary in terms of Article 10 § 2 (see Falzon v. Malta , no. 45791/13 , 20 March 2018; Selmani and Others v. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , no. 67259/14, 9 February 2017; and Axel Springer AG v. Germany [GC], no. 39954/08 , 7 February 2012)?