NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

Freedom to receive information Freedom to receive information 825 includes the right to collect information and to seek information through all possible sources that are not inconsistent with national legislation 826 and the provisions of international law. The freedom to receive information also covers international television broadcasts. 827 This right allows the society to have an adequate view of and to form a critical opinion on the situations in the state. The right to receive information is not absolute and may be restricted to limitations, which follow balancing interests in accordance to the circumstances of the case based on the state and public interest. In the case of Autronic AG v. Switzerland, 828 the Court held that devices for receiving broadcasting information, such as satellite dishes, do not fall under the restriction provided for in the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Article 10. The term ‘expression’, protected under Article 10, does not mean only substance of information and ideas, written or spoken, 829 but it extends also to the form in which they are expressed. 830 Article 10 of the Convention guarantees protection not only to the expression itself, but also to the means of expression. Consequently, printed documents, 831 radio broadcasts, 832 paintings, 833 films, 834 images 835 and electronic information systems 836 are also protected under this Article. Given that the Convention is a living instrument, the Court must be aware of the rapid developments of the means for the production and communication, transmission or distribution of information and ideas. 837 It is common ground between the parties that the judgments adopted by domestic courts in the proceedings constitute an interference with the applicants’ right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 § 1 of the Convention. 838 Such interference could be in the following forms: prohibition of publication 839 or of publishing one’s picture 825 TSUKHISHVILI, N. The Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): the Right of Access to Public Information , Open Society Institute, 2013. 826 PELED, R.and RABIN, Y. The constitutional right to information. 42 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 357 2010-2011. 827 Autronic AG v. Switzerland , 22 May 1990, Series a no. 178. 828 Ibid. . 829 HARRIS, 2009, cited above, p. 465. 830 Nikula v. Finland , no. 31611/96, ECHR 2002-II. 831 Handyside v. the United Kingdom , 7 December 1976, Series a no. 24. 832 Groppera Radio AG, cited above. 833 Müller and Others v. Switzerland , 24 May 1988, Series a no. 133. 834 Otto-Preminger-Institut, cited above. 835 Chorherr v. Austria , 25 August 1993, Series a no. 266-B. 836 Delfi AS v. Estonia , no. 64569/09, 10 October 2013. 837 The Court referred to Facebook as the means of communication in the case of Sitaropoulos and Giakoumopoulos v. Greece [GC], no. 42202/07, § 61, ECHR 2012. 838 OOO Ivpress, cited above. 839 The Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom (no. 2) , 26 November 1991, Series a no. 217.

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