Information Note on the Court’s case-law 67

August-September 2004

Kuśmierek v. Poland - 10675/02

Judgment 21.9.2004 [Section IV]

Article 6

Civil proceedings

Article 6-1

Civil rights and obligations

Private prosecution for defamation: Article 6 applicable

[This summary also covers the judgment ofthe case Irena Pieniążek v. Poland , no. 62179/00, 28 September 2004]

Each of the applicants brought a private prosecu tion for defamation. They complained about the length of the respective proceedings.

Law (extract): “The Court reiterates firstly that the ‘civil’ character of the right to enjoy a good reputation follows from its established case-law. Further, the Court n otes that, although Article 6 § 1 does not guarantee a right for the individual to institute a criminal prosecution himself, such a  right was conferred on the applicant by the Polish legal system in order to allow him to protect his reputation. The Court considers that the existence of a dispute (‘ contestation ’) concerning a ‘civil right’ does not necessarily depend on whether or not monetary damages are claimed; what is important is whether the outcome of the proceedings is decisive for the ‘civil right’ at issue. This was certainly so in the present case as the outcome of the private prosecution depended on an assessment of the merits of the applicant’s complaint that the defendants had attacked and harmed his good reputation. It follows that Article 6 § 1 applies to the present case.”

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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