The position of the ICTY Appeals Chamber in the Hartmann case has found support in the just issued commentary of the UN Human Rights Committee.
The Committee has issued an authoritative new commentary on the extent to which the freedom of opinion and expression can be restricted by a state.
Interpreting the Article 19.3 of the ICCPR requirement that the restriction to an individual’s freedom of expression must be provided by law, the Committee has explained that the “[l]aw may include ... laws of contempt of court.”
See Human Rights Committee, General comment No. 34, Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression, CCPR/C/GC/34, 21 July 2011, para. 24.