In the framework of the project "Strengthening Journalists’ Rights, Protections and Skills", the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) released three key documents on defamation laws and press freedom in Europe.
Report on Defamation Law : offers a provisional overview of defamation law in the EU and its relationship to international standards on free expression. This is an IPI analysis based on data collected by IPI and several research partners.
Perceptions Survey : presents the provisional results of a pioneering IPI perceptions study that collected the personal views and experiences of EU journalists, editors and media executives on the effects of defamation law. The survey bears witness to the dangerous chilling effect that defamation laws can have on the free flow of information and offers a mandate for increased training of journalists on such laws.
International Standards : an IPI document that summarises relevant international standards on freedom of expression and defamation, as originally developed in 2000 by the London-based civil society organisation ARTICLE 19. It also presents the results of research conducted by IPI on the viewpoint on those standards held by leading international legal and intergovernmental bodies, with particular focus placed on the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
