Matúz v Hungary, App no 73571/10 (ECtHR, 21 January 2015)
European Court of Human Rights case considering ‘public’ disclosure of information and the protection provided under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of Expression). Case of Guja v. Moldova, No. 14277/04 (2008) followed. The applicant, a journalist working for a state-run television company, raised concerns in a book he authored (having first gone internally) about censorship practices at this station and was consequently dismissed from his position. The dismissal was found by the Court to be a breach of the claimant’s Article 10 rights as the information in the book had already been leaked by the time it was published and the claimant had originally tried to remedy the situation internally.
This judgment clarifies that where disclosures are made public, this must be done as a ‘last resort’ if Article 10 protection is sought.