Affaire Haldiman et Autres c. Suisse, 24 février 2015, requite no. 21830/09
The convictions of four journalists who secretly filmed an insurance broker for a weekly consumer protection television series were a breach of their rights to freedom of expression, the European Court of Human Rights (pictured, Shutterstock) held recently.
The case was the first in which the court had dealt with the use by journalists of hidden cameras to provide public information on a subject of general interest, when the person filmed was targeted not in any personal capacity but as a representative of a particular professional category.
The Second Chamber of the Strasbourg Court said the interference in the private life of the broker, who had turned down an opportunity to express his views on the interview in question, was not serious enough to override the public interest in information on malpractice in the field of insurance brokerage.
The decision is only available in French. Vide: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng-press/pages/search.aspx?i=003-5022560-6168338