Anti-abortion protest and freedom of expression in Europe

In one of its first judgments of 2011, the European Court of Human Rights held that a criminal conviction for defamation in Germany of an anti-abortion activist for distributing leaflets comparing abortion to the Holocaust was not a violation of the right to freedom of expression. This judgment departs from the European Court’s previous case law which affords a high degree of protection for speech on matters of public debate. This Article criticizes the reasoning of the European Court and discusses relevant case law the Court failed to apply.In one of its first judgments of 2011, the European Court of Human Rights held that a criminal conviction for defamation in Germany of an anti-abortion activist for distributing leaflets comparing abortion to the Holocaust was not a violation of the right to freedom of expression. This judgment departs from the European Court’s previous case law which affords a high degree of protection for speech on matters of public debate. This Article criticizes the reasoning of the European Court and discusses relevant case law the Court failed to apply.A