web counter
LEXO PA REKLAMA!

SHKARKO APP

App Store
Google Play

E fundit!

x

"Constitution" repeals decisions on checks on journalists

2025-04-22 20:52:00, Aktualitet CNA

"Constitution" repeals decisions on checks on journalists

The Constitutional Court has annulled the court decisions on the searches against journalist Elton Qyno.

The Constitutional Court has requested that the decisions on the seizure of electronic devices be overturned.

"The Constitutional Court considered the case of petitioner Elton Qyno with the aim of annulling court decisions regarding personal, residential and workplace searches, as well as the seizure of items and computer data.

The Court, after analyzing the preliminary criteria of the request, concluded that the applicant is legitimate and has exhausted the available legal remedies only for challenging the decision that allowed the seizure of computer data, which was challenged by the applicant up to the High Court. As for personal freedom, the Court found that this claim is not related to the decisions for the seizure of computer data. With regard to the other claims, the Court assessed that the applicant has not exhausted the available legal remedies.

As regards the merits of the case, the Court focused on the analysis of the claim for the violation of freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 22 of the Constitution and Article 10 of the ECHR. Regarding this claim, the Court concluded that freedom of expression includes, among others, freedom of the press. The right of a journalist to preserve the source of information and not to reveal it is one of the conditions of freedom of the media. The protection of journalists’ sources is one of the main guarantees of freedom of the media, as part of the constitutional freedom of expression, so ordering a journalist to reveal his sources may be contrary to the Constitution, unless there is a clear legal basis authorizing it and an overriding public interest that dictates it. A journalist's right not to reveal their sources is not a privilege, as it essentially protects not only the freedom of the media, within the framework of freedom of expression, but also the public's right to information.

The Court concluded that the judicial decisions which allowed the seizure of computer data interfered with the applicant’s freedom of expression. As regards the criteria for limitation, the Court, applying the test of Article 17 of the Constitution, found that the interference was made by law and in the public interest. However, in the context of the standards set by the ECHR, the Court found that the interference with freedom of expression was not proportionate. In this sense, the Court also found that the ordinary courts had not reasoned as to why obtaining the data necessary for the investigation could only be achieved through identifying the journalist’s source, as a last resort, and why there were no other alternative means to achieve the same goal. In this regard, the courts had also not reasoned as to the urgency of the seizure of the applicant’s computer data. For these reasons, the Court unanimously decided to annul the decisions on the seizure of computer data (the decision of the First Instance Court of Appeals No. 501, dated 13.12.2023 and the decisions of the higher courts that have left it in force).

Likewise, the Court also decided to accept the request for the destruction of all computer data seized with the above-mentioned repealed decisions.

Regarding the claim of violation of the right to private life, the Court considered that it should not be stopped, as long as it found a violation of the applicant's freedom of expression, thus annulling the above decisions.





Lajmet e fundit nga