For nine years, the Observatory’s IRIS Themes series, prepared in collaboration with our partner organisation, the Institute for Information Law (IViR) of the University of Amsterdam, was delivered to you – our dear readers – as a yearly publication.
I am pleased to announce that, starting this year, the content of all previous IRIS Themes publications as well as all future items on Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights will be regrouped under a new database: Verbo!
The success of the IRIS Themes series has proved that a structured insight into the European Court of Human Rights’ case-law on freedom of expression, the media and journalists has been a widely appreciated vade-mecum on Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The high download figures (over 35,000 downloads in the first four years) as well as requests of translations have encouraged us to pursue on this path.
This makes its transformation into a database a logical evolution, simplifying access to information for lawyers, judges, law- and policy-makers, civil society actors, journalists and other media actors, academics, students, and everyone with an interest in its subject matter.
My warmest thanks go to Tarlach McGonagle (IViR), who not only conceived the idea of the IRIS Themes under its previous format, but also designed and formatted it. I would like to thank him for his initiative and commitment. The database that we are proud to show today would not have been possible without his significant and continuous efforts over the years.
I am also very grateful to Dirk Voorhoof (Human Rights Centre, Ghent University and Legal Human Academy), who took care of the summaries of the judgments and the decisions of the Court. He has been a steadfast IRIS correspondent since the very early days of the publication and this e-book demonstrates the vast extent of his coverage of Article 10 case-law in IRIS over the years.
I wish you a great time exploring Verbo!
Strasbourg, May 2025
Maja Cappello
IRIS Coordinator
Head of the Department for Legal Information
European Audiovisual Observatory