Welcome to the new year with a blog on the dilemma between freedom of expression and privacy in cases about domestic violence. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered an interesting judgment in the case of Tölle v. Croatia about insulting allegations of domestic violence. The president of an association (Ms Tölle) providing support for women victims of violence was convicted for insult, after she had mentioned in a radio-interview that a man had violently abused his wife. Before the ECtHR, Ms Tölle argued that she had reasonable grounds to believe that that the man had abused his wife. The ECtHR finds the criminal conviction for insult a sort of censorship, discouraging the promotion for support of victims of domestic violence.
Dirk Voorhoof and Inger Høedt-Rasmussen, ‘Insulting accusation of domestic violence’, Strasbourg Observers 5 January 2021 (link and link).
A new year, a new blog
Published in News