FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA IN THE CASE LAW OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

KOVAČ Kristian Z. (Doktorand, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Novom Sadu), kristian.kovac@yahoo.com

In this paper, the author analyzes the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in the cases in which the applications were filed against the Republic of Serbia pursuant to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. In the cases against the Republic of Serbia, The European Court of Human Rights issued a total of eight judgments in which the court found the existence of a violation of the rights to freedom of expression of the applicants. The author investigates what these cases referred to, classifies them, and determines why in each of these cases the European Court of Human Rights has found the existence of a violation of the right to freedom of expression. At the beginning of this paper, the author gives an overview of the legal regulation of the freedom of expression in the European Convention on Human Rights. The cases based on the applications submitted against the Republic of Serbia can be classified as those which refer to the right to impart information and ideas, and as those which refer to the right to receive information and ideas. Also, the cases which refer to the right to impart information and ideas can be classified as those in which the application was submitted by politically exposed persons, journalists and by natural persons which are not publicly exposed. At the end of this paper, the common characteristics of these cases are noted.

Keywords: freedom of expression, European Convention on Human Rights, case law, European Court of Human Rights