EUR-Lex -  61996CO0156 - EN - Order of the Court (First Chamber) of 21 January 1997. - Calvin Williams v Court of Auditors of the European Communities. - Appeal - Officials - Obligations - Acts incompatible with the dignity of the official's office - Duty of loyalty - Disciplinary proceedings - Removal from post. - Case C-156/96 P.

Summary
Keywords

Officials - Rights and obligations - Acts capable of reflecting on the dignity of office - Serious insults - Disciplinary measure - Judicial review

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 12, first para.)

Summary

An official who utters in public serious insults detrimental to the honour of the persons to whom they refer reflects on the dignity of his office and infringes the first paragraph of Article 12 of the Staff Regulations.

In assessing the lawfulness of a disciplinary measure in the light of that provision, the Court of First Instance is not required to examine whether the conduct in question constitutes defamation as it might be defined in criminal law.

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