CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 5 octobre 2006

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s69BE285C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:85.05pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-85.05pt } .s9A223E1B { width:11.03pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .sA8C2B9B0 { width:20.37pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s595A57E4 { width:85.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   555 5.10.2006   Press release issued by the Registrar   CHAMBER HEARING TØNSBERG BLAD AS AND HAUKOM v. NORWAY   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Chamber hearing today, Thursday 5 October 2006 at 9 a.m., on the admissibility and merits in the case of Tønsberg Blad As and Haukom v. Norway (application no. 510/04).   The applicants   The applicants are Tønsberg Blad A/S and Marit Haukom. Tønsberg Blad A/S publishes the newspaper Tønsberg Blad , a regional newspaper owned by Orkla Media A/S, which appears six days a week and had a daily average circulation of 33,314 in 2002. Ms Haukom, the paper’s editor-in-chief at the relevant time, is a Norwegian national who was born in 1952 and lives in the City of Tønsberg in Southern Norway.   Summary of the facts   On 11 October 1999 Tjøme Municipal Council drew up a list identifying property owners suspected of failing to respect the permanent residence requirement applying to certain properties, in breach of local regulations. Regulation ( forskrift ) of 14 December 1984 no. 2089 required that homes bought within the Tjøme Municipality be the owners’ permanent residence, in order to control the exceptionally high demand for holiday homes, particularly from people living in and around Oslo. The list, which was discussed by a council committee on 12 October 1999, included a famous singer and Tom Vidar Rygh, then Executive Vice-President of Orkla ASA , one of Norway’s largest industrial companies.   The Rygh family had used the house in question as its main residence from 1988, when they had had it built, until they moved to Oslo in 1998.   On 8 June 2000 Tønsberg Blad published articles about the list featuring Mr Vidar Rygh and the famous singer, stating that they might be “forced to sell their properties at Tjøme” because: “according to Tjøme Municipality, [they] do not comply with the permanent residence requirements applying to their properties”. The articles included a small photo of Mr Rygh with the caption: “it must be due to a misunderstanding, says Tom Vidar Rygh”.   On 30 June 2000, after being informed that the Rygh family’s property had been removed from the list, the newspaper published an additional article which noted that Mr Viday Rygh and the singer had “got off” and included criticisms of “major loopholes” in the system, in that the regulations did not apply to houses which had been built by the owners.   In a further article, published on 8 August 2000 and entitled “ Tønsbergs Blad clarifies”, the paper stated that the properties belonging to the singer and the Rygh family had been removed from the list in question, as the regulations did not apply to their properties. On 15 September 2000 Mr Rygh brought private criminal proceedings against the newspaper and Ms Haukom.   On 13 September 2001 the applicants were acquitted and Mr Rygh was ordered to pay NOK 183,387 for costs. The court found that a defamatory allegation had been made but, with reference to Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights, attached special importance to the public interest of the permanent residence issue and to the freedom of the press.   Mr. Rygh appealed and, on 21 May 2002, Agder High Court upheld Mr Rygh’s claims in part. Under Article 253 of the Penal Code, the High Court declared the impugned statements null and void and ordered the applicants to pay Mr Rygh NOK 50,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage.   The applicants appealed unsuccessfully to the Supreme Court which, on 1 July 2003, ordered them to pay Mr Rygh NOK 673,879 for costs.   Complaint   The applicants complain about the Supreme Court’s decision of 1 July 2003, relying on Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 23 December 2003.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   Christos Rozakis (Greek), President , Loukis Loucaides (Cypriot), Anatoli Kovler (Russian), Elisabeth Steiner (Austrian), Khanlar Hajiyev (Azerbaijani), Dean Spielmann (Luxemburger), Sverre Erik Jebens (Norwegian), judges , Françoise Tulkens (Belgian), Nina Vajić (Croatian), substitute judges , and also Santiago Quesada , Deputy Section Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Erlend Haaskjold , Agent , Anne Cathrine Haug , Adviser ;   Applicants :   Pál Lorentzen , Trond Hatland , Counsel .   Marit Haukom and Sigmund Kydland (Editor-in-Chief of the Tønsberg Blad ) will also attend the hearing.   ***   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private.   Press Contacts   Emma Hellyer (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15) Stéphanie Klein (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Beverley Jacobs (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 21)   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.