Freedom of expression of judges on social media : a case note on the order Ds-ss 1/2021 of the Disciplinary Court of the Judicial Council of the Republic of Slovenia

Fajdiga, Mohor (author)

A local court judge labelled the Slovenian Prime Minister a "great dictator" on her closed Facebook profile. One of her virtual friends captured a print-screen, propelling the posts into a national scandal. The Disciplinary Court acquitted the judge. The Ethical commission did not pass judgment on her, issuing only non-binding guidelines for public expression of judges on social networks. Nevertheless, the judge suffered significant sanctions. The President of the local court removed her from the leadership position, and she received serious threats and insults by private actors. The case note discusses the broader questions emerging from the case. In relation to which topics can judges express opinions of political nature? Can they expect privacy when they engage in closed social media communication? Which standards should the national authorities employ in assessing these issues? How judges perceive different sanctions and what measures can mitigate the chilling effect such sanctions can create? By analysing both formal and informal responses to the controversial Facebook posts and drawing upon the personal recollections of the affected judge, this case note aims to provide more clarity on the issues relevant way beyond Slovenia.

• Language: English
• Keywords: freedom of expression of judges, social media, privacy, chilling effect, political expression
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.03 - Other scientific articles
• Organization: PF - Faculty of Law
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 221-233
• Numbering: Letn. 83
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-168372
• UDC: 347.962:342.727:004.774.1FB
• ISSN on article: 1854-3839
• DOI: 10.51940/2023.1.221-233
• COBISS.SI-ID: 179626499
• Publication date in RUL: 10.04.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Zbornik znanstvenih razprav
• Shortened title: Zb. znan. razpr.
• Publisher: Pravna fakulteta
• ISSN: 1854-3839
• COBISS.SI-ID: 223437312

Licences

• License: CC BY-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
• Description: Under the NoDerivatives Creative Commons license one can take a work released under this license and re-distribute it, but it cannot be shared with others in adapted form, and credit must be provided to the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Svoboda izražanja sodnikov na družbenih omrežjih : študija primera glede sklopa Ds-ss 1/2021 Disciplinskega sodišča Sodnega sveta Republike Slovenije
• Keywords: svoboda izražanja sodnikov, družbena omrežja, sodniki, zasebnost

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: Justice Programme
• Project number: 853832
• Name: TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of judges and arbitrators safeguarding the rule of Law under the EU Charter
• Acronym: TRIIAL

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J5-4583
• Name: Izbira sodnikov pod drobnogledom: sodniška neodvisnost, zakonitost in odlike