Otto-Preminger-Institute v Austria

In this case, the seizure by Austrian authorities of a film considered blasphemous and offensive was deemed legitimate in order to protect the rights of others to freedom of religion, given that the vast majority of the Tyrolean population was Roman Catholic. Nonetheless, three judges voted in dissent and found the measure to be too strict, since the audience would have been limited to a paid adult audience, who had been informed of the content of the work. This case is an example of the application of the so-called `margin of appreciation´; since the States parties to the European Convention have different moral values and traditions, the Court in its jurisprudence developed the concept of the `margin of appreciation´, which gives to the national authorities a certain discretion in deciding these matters.

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Author Organisation: European Court of Human Rights