“Pango”, precedents in Strasbourg

The Strasbourg decisions are considered as historical in the European jurisprudence and they include complaints filed by Princess Caroline of Hanover, Heir to the Principate of Monaco, and also the case of a famous German actor of a popular TV series, who is referred to as X in the Court review.

Princess Caroline filed a complaint against a German media outlet that had published photos of her and her husband during their winter vacation, while they were skiing. She referred to Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which is related with the privacy.

But the Court of Strasbourg ruled that her rights had not been infringed, and as result, the publisher had no financial obligations towards Princess Caroline.

As regards the second case, magazine “Bild” had published photos that were taken during the arrest of the German actor, over drug possession charges, seven years after it had taken place. The article also said that the actor had been found guilty for possession of cocaine.

The Hamburg Court had ruled in favor of the actor, by not allowing the newspaper to publish further articles on that matter.

The magazine appealed in Strasbourg, referring to Article 10 of the Convention, which is related with the freedom of speech. This was accepted by the European Court of Human Rights, which obliged the German state to pay the publisher more than 50.000 EUR for financial damages.

Prepared by: Arta Tozaj

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