On a verbal offence against religious feelings – commentary on the European Court of Human Rights’s judgement of 15 September 2022 in Rabczewska v. Poland

In its judgement of 15 September 2022 in the case of Rabczewska v. Poland (App. No. 8257/13), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that the conviction of a Polish singer for her statement made during a press interview – “It’s hard to believe in the writings of someone wasted from drinking wine and smoking some weed,” referring to the authors of the Bible – violated Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The findings and conclusions presented by the ECtHR in this case significantly differ from those given by the domestic courts. Despite the shortcomings identified in this study, the ECtHR’s judgement deserves approval. This underscores that adjudication by the domestic courts under Article 196 of the Criminal Code, which penalises insulting religious feelings, cannot be divorced from the Convention’s standards. Moreover, the ECtHR’s judgement in Rabczewska v. Poland requires that domestic courts engage in thorough reflection on the essence of insulting religious feelings in light of the ECtHR’s rulings. Accordingly, a clear standard for ECtHR adjudication in cases involving freedom of expression and the protection of religious feelings is highly desirable. Therefore, the ECtHR should eliminate all deficiencies in argumentation, gaps and substantive errors from its justifications of judgements.