Jurisdiction for Online Defamation Cases - ECJ Clarification
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Two recent cases which were jointly heard before the Court of Justice (Joined Cases C-509/09 and C-161/10 - eDate Advertising GmbH v X and Olivier Martinez, Robert Martinez v MGN Limited), have resulted in a useful clarification of the law in relation to jurisdiction in circumstances where allegations of defamation have been levelled against a party who operates an online publication. The Court considered the wording of Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 and, in particular, it was asked to clarify the meaning of Article 3(2) of the Regulation which provides that;
A person domiciled in a Member State may, in an other Member State, be sued in matters relating to a tort, delict, or quasi-delict, in the courts for the place where the harmful event occurred or may occur”.
The Court held that a person who alleges that a defamatory statement has been made on the internet “may bring an action in one forum in respect of all of the damage caused, depending on the place in which the damage caused in the European Union by that infringement occurred.”
The Court also acknowledged that “Given that the impact which material placed online is liable to have on an individual’s personality rights might best be assessed by the court of the place where the alleged victim has his centre of interests, the attribution of jurisdiction to that court corresponds to the objective of the sound administration of justice.”
This is a welcome clarification of the issue of jurisdiction as it relates to cases involving alleged online reputational damage.
