San Marino breached both the fair-trial guarantee and freedom of expression in criminal proceedings over Ingrid Casali’s Facebook post about a politician, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
Casali challenged her conviction on two fronts. She argued that the tribunal that decided the criminal case had not been established by law and that the proceedings through the appeal stage were unfair. She also maintained that punishing the post was an unjustified interference with expression protected by Article 10.
The Strasbourg court found a violation of Article 6 §1 in relation to the requirement that a tribunal be established by law. It separately found a violation of Article 10. The two conclusions distinguish the institutional defect in the adjudicating body from the proportionality of imposing criminal liability for the statement itself.
Casali was awarded €5,000 for non-pecuniary damage and €19,000 for costs and expenses. The judgment does not automatically erase the domestic conviction; San Marino must address the consequences through the Convention’s execution process once the ruling is final.
Because the decision was issued by a Chamber, either party has three months to ask for referral to the Grand Chamber. The judgment will become final only if that period passes without a request, the parties waive referral, or a five-judge panel rejects a request.
The official judgment is available on HUDOC.
