On 6-7 October, in Abant 29 judge members, three rapporteur judges and three prosecutors from the Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation and the Council of State attended a workshop on freedom of expression and defamation. The event served as a forum among legal practitioners from different European countries, representative from the European Court of Human Rights and Turkish high court members to discuss the challenges and lessons learned in relation to fair balance between freedom of expression and protection of reputation. Participants exchanged views on the implementation of relevant standards of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Constitutional Courts’ practice of Russian Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany in comparison with Turkey. They also had the opportunity to learn about the case-law of the Turkish Court of Cassation and Council of State in the field of freedom of expression and defamation. The country-specific topics which were discussed also included the “defamation of heads of foreign States in the German law” and “defamation of communities within the context Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

The meeting was held as the second event of international workshops which contribute to the harmonization of national implementation of ECHR under the European Union/Council of Europe Joint Programme “Strengthening the Capacity of the Turkish Judiciary on Freedom of Expression”.