THE European Court of Justice ruled yesterday that the
European Union can lawfully suppress political criticism of its
institutions and of leading figures, sweeping aside English Common Law
and 50 years of European precedents on civil liberties.
The EU's top court found that the European Commission was entitled to sack Bernard Connolly, a British economist dismissed in 1995 for writing a critique of European monetary integration entitled The Rotten Heart of Europe.
The ruling stated that the commission could restrict dissent
in order to "protect the rights of others" and punish individuals who
"damaged the institution's image and reputation". The case has wider
implications for free speech that could extend to EU citizens who do not
work for the Brussels bureaucracy.
The court called the Connolly book "aggressive, derogatory
and insulting", taking particular umbrage at the author's suggestion
that Economic and Monetary Union was a threat to democracy, freedom and
"ultimately peace".
However, it dropped an argument put forward three months ago
by the advocate-general, Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, which implied that
Mr Connolly's criticism of the EU was akin to extreme blasphemy, and
therefore not protected speech.
Mr Connolly, who has been told to pay the European
Commission's legal costs, said the proceedings did not amount to a fair
hearing. He said: "We're back to the Star Chamber and Acts of Attainder:
the rights of defendants are not respected or guaranteed in any way;
the offence of seditious libel has been resurrected."
Mr Colomer wrote in his opinion last November that a landmark British case on free speech had "no foundation or relevance" in European law, suggesting that the European Court was unwilling to give much consideration to British legal tradition.
Mr Connolly now intends to take his case to Europe's other court, the non-EU European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1325398/Euro-court-outlaws-criticism-of-EU.html
Mr Colomer wrote in his opinion last November that a landmark British case on free speech had "no foundation or relevance" in European law, suggesting that the European Court was unwilling to give much consideration to British legal tradition.
Mr Connolly now intends to take his case to Europe's other court, the non-EU European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1325398/Euro-court-outlaws-criticism-of-EU.html
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