FOURTH SECTION
DECISION
Application no. 25504/23
Francisco Manuel SEIXAS DA COSTA
against Portugal
(see appended table)
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 20 November 2025 as a Committee composed of:
Anne Louise Bormann, President,
Sebastian Răduleţu,
András Jakab, judges,
and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 June 2023,
Having regard to the formal declarations accepting a friendly settlement of the case,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
The applicant’s details are set out in the appended table.
The applicant was represented by Mr M. Magalhães e Silva, a lawyer practising in Lisbon.
The applicant’s complaints under Article 10 of the Convention concerning his conviction for aggravated defamation against a football coach following a tweet on Twitter were communicated to the Portuguese Government (“the Government”).
The Court received the friendly-settlement declarations, signed by the parties, under which the applicant agreed to waive any further claims against Portugal in respect of the facts giving rise to this application, subject to an undertaking by the Government to pay him the amounts detailed in the appended table. These amounts will be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court’s decision. In the event of failure to pay these amounts within the above-mentioned three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on them, from the expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.
The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case.
THE LAW
The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and the Protocols thereto and finds no reasons to justify a continued examination of the application.
In view of the above, it is appropriate to strike the case out of the list.
For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,
Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases in accordance with Article 39 of the Convention.
Done in English and notified in writing on 11 December 2025.
Viktoriya Maradudina Anne Louise Bormann
Acting Deputy Registrar President
APPENDIX
Application raising complaints under Article 10 of the Convention
(Freedom of expression)
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Date of receipt of Government’s declaration
Date of receipt of Applicant’s declaration
Amount awarded for pecuniary damage
(in euros)[1]
Amount awarded for non-pecuniary damage (in euros)[2]
Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application
(in euros)[3]
25504/23
16/06/2023
Francisco Manuel SEIXAS DA COSTA
1948
Manuel Magalhães e Silva
Lisbon
10/04/2025
12/09/2025
8,200
9,750
2,500
[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.
[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.
[3] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant.