The Slovak Constitutional Court’s senate (panel) consisting of the presiding judge Lajos Mészáros and judges Sergej Kohut and Juraj Horváth ruled that lower courts violated the free speech rights of the Plus 7 Dní weekly magazine by ordering it to pay Sk250,000 (about €8,800) in damages to judge Pavol Polka for alleged defamation and discrediting of his person in public, the Aktualne.sk webpage wrote.
An attorney with Via Iuris civic association, Peter Wilfling, on the webpage otvorenepravo.sk, wrote that this is a crucial precedent for the Slovak courts. The chief editor of the Plus 7 Dní weekly had expressed his outrage at the sums of money ordered as compensation to judges for violations of their personality protection were far higher than compensation ordered for prisoners of consciousness, political prisoners or the bereaved family members of victims of drunk drivers.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the editor’s statements were protected as free speech.
Source: Actualne.sk
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
