OSCE media representative says new French libel case shows EU countries should abolish criminal defamation

VIENNA, 21 April 2005 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, today voiced his concern over a case launched in France by the Barclay brothers, the owners of the Daily Telegraph, against The Times of London.

"This is another indication that criminal libel laws should be taken off the statute books, as my Office has been urging," Haraszti said. "Libel and defamation should be dealt with only in the civil-law courts. Otherwise even the most advanced democracies are not insured against threats to press freedom."

On 19 April, The Times editor Robert Thomson and journalist Dan Sabbagh received a summons from Scotland Yard to appear in a Paris criminal court on 23 June.

The Barclay brothers are suing The Times under a French press law dating back to 1881. The law was amended in 2004 but defamation was not decriminalised.

Most EU member States, influenced by decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, have refrained from using criminal libel laws for decades.

"EU member states should take a lead in reforming these legal provisions and set a good example for the rest of the OSCE region," Haraszti said.

The Representative said that libel and insult laws remain a major challenge for freedom of expression in the OSCE area.

"They exert a chilling effect on all media professionals. These laws are one of the main obstacles to media freedom in the 21st century," said Miklos Haraszti.