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The case of the political party leader’s wife’s Nazi salute

Case Law

Country

Country Location

Latitude: 47.198137592375716

Longitude: 19.319928512752984

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Keywords

Case Summary: The Hungarian Curia, the Supreme Court of Appeal, held that the use of images and videos from a political party leader’s wedding was not a disproportionate infringement of the right to privacy. A news outlet had published an image of the political leader’s wife doing the Nazi salute and a video of a speech involving homophobic and racist jokes at the wedding. The Court of First Instance awarded the couple damages for an infringement of privacy but this was overturned on appeal. The Curia emphasized the fundamental right to freedom of expression and of the press, and noted that the image and video had not been taken in a specifically intimate setting and had been taken by a third party commissioned by the couple to photograph the wedding. The Curia accepted that the leader’s wife was not a public figure herself, but found that the matter was nevertheless relevant to public debate.

Case Significance: The judgment expands expression by acknowledging that although the fact of having a close family relationship with a well-known public figure does not in itself constitute a qualification as a public figure, that relative of a public figure may be subject to a duty of higher tolerance of expression on the basis of their personal involvement in the public affair concerned.

The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.

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