Haldimann and Others v. Switzerland kararı ile Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi, ilk kez, bir genel çıkar konusu hakkında kamuyu bilgilendirmek üzere gazetecilerin gizli kamera kullanımı hakkında karar vermiştir. Somut olay yönünden, bilgi almak yönündeki kamunun çıkarı, ilgili kişinin özel hayatından daha ağır basmış ve Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi’nin 10. maddesi, ihlal edilmiştir.
Haldimann and Others v. Switzerland kararı, “http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/” adresinden erişilebilirdir.
Haldimann and Others v. Switzerland kararının basın duyurusu, “http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/webservices/content/pdf/003-5022560-6168338” adresinden erişilebilirdir.
Bu basın duyurusunun özeti, İngilizce haliyle, aşağıdaki gibidir:
Conviction of journalists for an interview using a hidden camera infringed their freedom of expression
In its Chamber judgment issued today in the case of Haldimann and Others v. Switzerland (application no. 21830/09), the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority, that there had been:
A violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case concerned the conviction of four journalists for having recorded and broadcast an interview of a private insurance broker using a hidden camera, as part of a television documentary intended to denounce the misleading advice provided by insurance brokers.
In this case, the Court was for the first time called on to examine an application concerning the use of hidden cameras by journalists to provide public information on a subject of general interest, whereby the person filmed was targeted not in any personal capacity but as a representative of a particular professional category.
The Court considered that the interference in the private life of the broker, who had turned down an opportunity to express his views on the interview in question, had not been serious enough to override the public interest in information on malpractice in the field of insurance brokerage.