The Right of Reply in a European Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to identify the legal position and role of the right of reply within the European concept of media law. We wish to find an answer to the question whether the right of reply constitutes a limitation to the freedom of the press or if it is to be understood as a means of exercising freedom of opinion (or both, perhaps). We shall also try to identify the common foundations of the regulation of the right of reply and its general, or at least, most common, manifestations in Europe. According to our preliminary hypothesis, the right of reply is a legal instrument serving both the person whose (personality) rights have been violated (the applicant in the legal procedure) and the public wishing to access a wide variety of information via the media. The conclusions of the paper shall confirm or refute this hypothesis.