European Court of Human Rights rules public insults fall outside freedom of expression

The European Court of Human Rights has upheld the position of Georgia’s Ministry of Justice in the case Miladze v. Georgia, confirming that publicly expressed insulting, degrading, and obscene statements directed at public officials fall outside the scope of protection guaranteed by freedom of expression, the Georgian justice ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, the case concerned a video posted on the social media platform TikTok in 2022, in which the applicant, civil activist Irakli Miladze, used vulgar and offensive language toward the Mayor of Tbilisi, city hall employees, and police officers. For this conduct, Georgian courts imposed the minimum fine envisaged by law - 500 GEL.

The European Court unanimously ruled that the applicant’s statements did not constitute political criticism or expression on a matter of public interest. According to the judgment, the language used was aimed at humiliating and insulting public officials.

The Court also agreed with the reasoning of the domestic courts, noting that they had properly distinguished between harsh political criticism and personal insult. The judgment further emphasised that the measure applied against the applicant was minimal and proportionate, as he was only ordered to pay the minimum fine established by law.

The ministry of justice stated that the ruling once again reaffirmed an important principle: while freedom of expression is one of the fundamental values of a democratic society and protects even sharp criticism, it does not extend to degrading and personally insulting remarks directed at others, including public officials and civil servants