In a recent judgment, assessing a complex case concerning the distribution of personal information by the press in relation to individual rights and freedom of expression, the Craiova Court of Appeal stressed that, in exercising freedom of expression, journalists must act in good faith, providing accurate and credible information, being required to respect the individual’s right to image, especially in sensitive situations.
The Court analysed whether the broadcasting of news containing partly unblurred images of a person is justified by the public interest. It also analysed whether the interference with the right to free expression of the press (by possibly prohibiting the publication of such images) strikes a fair balance between the imperatives of protecting conflicting individual rights, the means used, and the aim pursued. The Court upheld the right to one’s image.
The Court found that the distribution of non-targeted images, which could have identified the person concerned, constituted an infringement of that person’s rights and caused significant non-material damage.
The final judgment was in favour of protecting the right to one’s image and compensating for the moral damage suffered, stressing that this interference with freedom of expression was justified in order to restore the necessary balance between the competing interests involved, thus confirming that the distribution of personal data by the press can be considered an unlawful act even when the respective data belongs to a person suspected of an unlawful act and may represent information of public interest.
