On 8-9 December, in Afyon 12 members of the Court of Cassation, 6 members of the Council of State, three judges from the Courts of Appeal and seven trainers of the Justice Academy participated in the third international workshop which focused on Internet freedom under the European Union/Council of Europe Joint Project “Strengthening the Capacity of the Turkish Judiciary on Freedom of Expression”.

Participants had the opportunity to overview the jurisprudence of the ECtHR on the Internet freedom and compare it with those of the Turkish high courts. They also exchanged views with the practitioners from Hungary and the UK on how to strike a fair balance between protection of freedom of expression on the Internet and the right to privacy, with a special focus on the following cases: Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete (“MTE”) and Index.hu Zrt v. Hungary (Application no. 22947/13), Chambers v DPP [2012] EWHC 2157 (Twitter joke case) and Tamiz v Google Inc [2013] EWCA Civ 68. How to counter cyber hate while respecting freedom of expression was another topic elaborated at the workshop. In line with the interactive methodology employed in various working sessions, consultants conducted case studies on Editorial Board of Pravoye Delo and Shtekel v. Ukraine (Application no. 33014/05) and K.U. v. Finland (Application no. 2872/02).