The European Court makes the decision: Journalists have the right to protect their resources

The European Court for Human Rights has given journalists the right, deciding not to disclose their sources, even in cases where the source itself has gone to the police.

The court ruled today on the case of Norwegian journalist Cecile Langum Becker, launched in 2012. The journalist was asked to bear witness to the contacts and sources of an article about the Norwegian oil company.

The European Court confirmed that Mrs. Becker as a journalist to maintain her confidential resources could not be automatically removed because of the behavior of a source or because the source's identity had become known. In the act of today's Chamber of Affairs, the European Court unanimously said there were violations on the part of Article 10's (freedom of expression) Norway of the European Convention for Human Rights.

Both the Oslo District Court and the Court of Appeals Borgarting decided that the journalist was supposed to testify. In January 2012, Mrs. Becker was ordered to pay a fine of about 3,700 euros for refusing to answer questions about her contacts. The European Court estimated that Norway would remunify the fine imposed on the journalist.

“S, along with its Norwegian branch, Norsk Journalistlag (NJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this clear decision”, EFJ Secretary General Ricardo Gutierez said.

“This judgment strengthens the protection of sources of journalism, which is one of the fundamental conditions for media freedom. Therefore, we call on states to adopt legislation aimed at implementing journalists' right to protect their resources, following international standards”,He added.