EIT: Professori sai arvostella yliopistoa, 10 artiklan loukkaus kunnianloukkaustuomion johdosta

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuin (EIT) on tuoreessa tuomiossaan Venäjää vastaan linjannut yliopiston kunnian suojaa akateemisessa ympäristössä. Venäjän katsottiin loukanneen yliopiston professorin sananvapautta, kun se oli tuominnut professorin kunnianloukkauksesta tämän arvosteltua yliopiston hallintoelimen vaaleja.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

In [a] Chamber judgment in the case of Kharlamov v. Russia (application no. 27447/07) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:

a violation of Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned a civil action in defamation brought against Mr Kharlamov, a university professor, by his employer, Orel State Technical University, after he expressed the view that the University’s governing body could not be considered legitimate due to shortcomings in the election procedure.

The Court found that the domestic courts, in their decisions against Mr Kharlamov, had notably failed to take into account the specific features of academic relations. In particular, the protection of a university’s authority or reputation under the Convention could not be equated to that of an individual’s. Focusing their attention entirely on Mr Kharlamov’s description of the elected senate as illegitimate, the domestic courts had therefore failed to strike a fair balance between the need to protect the University’s reputation and Mr Kharlamov’s freedom to express his opinion on the organisation of academic life.

Koko lehditötiedote, missä myös linkki koko tuomioon, löytyy täältä: here