Doctrine of margin of appreciation under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

Considering the importance of the fundamental human rights and freedom in the world for every democratic society, and the fact that, after years and years of struggle for recognition and protection, they have received adequate recognition and legal protection within numerous International instruments, both universal and regional character. The paper analyzes not only one of the most important human rights and freedoms for democracy and democratic society, freedom of expression, but also the application of the doctrine of margin of appreciation in relation to freedom of expression. Namely, freedom of expression is one of the most important political human rights and freedoms, i.e. lex generalis, representing a human right without which other political rights cannot be exercised, thereby endangering the existence of democracy and democratic society and its normal functioning. Due to this, the paper analyzes the origins, the scope and the conditions for limitations of freedom of expression. The doctrine of the margin of appreciation is the legal standard of the European Court of Human Rights, established autonomously through the jurisprudence of the Court, is of great importance and represents the principle of subsidiarity, the fundamental principle on which the European system of human rights protection rests. In this regard, the paper analyzes the development, the arguments justifying the existence and application of the doctrine, the factors influencing the width of the margin of appreciation, and the effects of (non)existence of consensus. Due to the importance of freedom of expression and the margin of appreciation that has already been individually highlighted and analyzed, the paper analyzes the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the application of the margin of appreciation in relation to freedom of expression with respect to characteristic types of a speech, on the one hand, and with respect to the legitimate aims set out in Article 10 (2) of the European Convention as a basis for restricting freedom of expression and giving a comparative overview of the width of the margin of appreciation in the light of the above mentioned.

Obzirom na značaj koji fundamentalna ljudska prava i slobode imaju u savremenom svetu za svako demokratsko društvo, i na činjenicu da su posle godina i godina borbe za priznanje i zaštitu dobila adekvatno priznanje i pravnu zaštitu u okviru brojnih međunarodnih dokumenata, kako univerzalnog, tako i regionalnog karaktera, u radu je analizirano ne samo jedno od najvažnijih ljudskih prava i sloboda za demokratiju i demokratsko društvo, sloboda izražavanja, već je analizirana primena doktrine polja slobodne procene u odnosu na slobodu izražavanja. Naime, sloboda izražavanja je jedno od najvažnijih političkih ljudskih prava i sloboda, tj. lex generalis, te stoga predstavlja ljudsko pravo bez čijeg postojanja se ne mogu ostvariti druga politička prava, čime se ugrožava postojanje demokratije i demokratskog društva i njegovo normalno funkcionisanje. U vezi sa tim, u radu su analizirani koreni, pojam i ograničenja, odnosno uslovi za zadiranje u slobodu izražavanja. Doktrina polja slobodne procene, pravni standard Evropskog suda za ljudska prava, uspostavljena je autonomno kroz jurisprudenciju Suda, od izuzetnog je značaja, i izraz je načela supsidijarnosti, glavnog principa na kojem počiva evropski sistem zaštite ljudskih prava. U skladu sa tim, u radu su analizirani razvoj, argumenti koji opravdavaju postojanje i primenu doktrine, faktori koji utiču na određivanje širine polja slobodne procene i efekti (ne)postojanja konsenzusa. Obzirom na značaj slobode izražavanja i polja slobodne procene koji je već istaknut i analiziran ponaosob, u radu je analizirana sudska praksa Evropskog suda za ljudska prava s obzirom na primenu polja slobodne procene u odnosu na slobodu izražavanja s obzirom na karakteristične vrste govora, s jedne strane i s obzirom na legitimne ciljeve koji su predviđeni u članu 10. Stav 2. Evropske konvencije kao osnov za ograničenje slobode izražavanja, s druge strane, i pružen je uporedni prikaz širine polja slobodne procene s obzirom na prethodno navedeno.