Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 139

March 2011

RTBF v. Belgium - 50084/06

Judgment 29.3.2011 [Section II]

Article 10

Article 10-1

Freedom of expression

Temporary ban on broadcasting of a television news programme: violation

Facts – The applicant company, a public-service broadcasting corporation, broadcast a monthly programme called “Au nom de la loi” (in the name of the law), which dealt with judicial issues. A programme scheduled in 2001 contained footage concerning medical risks and using, as an example, complaints made by patients about their doctor that had already been reported in the press. Further to an action brought by the doctor, the President of the Court of First Instance granted an interim injunction preventing the RTBF from broadcasting the relevant part of the programme pending a decision on the merits, subject to a fine of two million Belgian francs per broadcast. The applicant company’s appeals were unsuccessful. Proceedings on the merits brought by the doctor against the RTBF were still pending when the application was lodged with the European Court.

Law – Article 10: The injunction, until a decision on the merits, preventing the broadcasting of footage in a television programme concerning topical judicial issues constituted interference by the public authorities in the applicant company’s freedom of expression. In ascertaining whether the interference at issue had a legal basis, the Court observed that the Belgian Constitution aut