SPECIAL COLLECTION OF THE CASE LAW ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION and delivered judgment in favour of the Defendant. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and observed that David had a reasonable expectation of privacy since David would not have been photographed if he had not been the son of a famous person. The Court also opined that even quotidian acts of family recreation, in public places, could be adversely affected by intrusive media attention. More info here. United States: In the case of Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court (1982), the Supreme Court of the United States found that a Massachusetts statute that required that the public be excluded from the courtroom during the testimony of minor victims in a sex-offense trial violated the First Amendment. The case arose after Globe Newspaper Co. challenged the Massachusetts statute when it was denied access to a rape trial conducted in the Superior Court for the County of Norfolk. In its decision, the Supreme Court noted that the right of access to criminal trials was afforded protection by the First Amendment because such trials had historically been open to the press and public and because such right played a particularly significant role in the functioning of the judicial process and the government. The Court emphasized that for the constitutional right to be restricted, the State must show that denial of such a right is necessitated by a compelling governmental interest and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. By applying strict scrutiny, the Court concluded that while the State’s interest in protecting minors was compelling, it did not justify a mandatory closure rule since the particular circumstances of the case could affect the significance of the interest. Rather than a blanket closure rule, the Court deemed that the interest could be served by requiring the trial court to evaluate the need for closure on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, the Court determined that there was no evidence the rule would lead to an increase in the number of minor sex victims coming forward. More info here. xix. Privacy and public interest in the reporting of criminal cases ECtHR: In the case of Egeland and Hanseid v. Norway (2009), on April 16, 2009, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that the Norwegian Supreme Court judgment convicting and fining two journalists for publishing photographs of a convicted criminal leaving a court building did not violate Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The case arose after the journalists were charged under a Norwegian provision that made it an offense to photograph defendants in criminal proceedings on their way to or from a court without their consent unless there were special reasons for making an exception. While the journalists were acquitted in the first instance, the Supreme Court, which based its decision on the need to protect privacy and safeguard due process, convicted the applicants and ordered them to pay 10,000 Norwegian kroner in fines with 15 days imprisonment in default. In its decision, the ECtHR emphasized that since Norway was not in an isolated position concerning the prohibition of photographing charged or convicted persons in connection with court proceedings, it could not be said there was a European consensus to such effect. Thus, the Court granted the competent authorities in Norway a wide margin of appreciation in balancing the conflicting interests. The Court determined that the interests in restricting the publication of the photographs outweighed those of the press in informing the public on a matter of public concern. 39