The Riga Regional Court’s judgment has come into force, dismissing in full the claim for the retraction of statements alleged to have infringed the claimant’s honour and dignity and for monetary compensation in connection with statements made during a Latvian Television broadcast. The Supreme Court has refused to initiate cassation proceedings, and the 14 May 2026 judgment of the Riga Regional Court has therefore entered into force
The case concerned a claim for the retraction of allegedly defamatory statements and the payment of monetary compensation. The dispute arose from statements made during a segment on Latvian Television’s news programme concerning litigation between a private individual and a representative of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.
The Riga Regional Court found that, when assessed in the context of the programme as a whole, the statements reflected the speaker’s subjective assessment of the proceedings, the conflict between the parties and the sufficiency of the evidence. The court concluded that the statements did not assert specific unlawful facts and therefore constituted opinion rather than statements of fact. The court also emphasised that the existence of the litigation itself provided a factual basis for expressing an opinion on the course and outcome of the dispute.
“The outcome of this case confirms that, when assessing a potential infringement of honour and dignity, it is not only the words used that matter, but also their meaning and context. Individuals are entitled to express critical views publicly on court proceedings and the parties involved, provided that such views have a factual basis and remain within the limits of freedom of expression. In this case, the court applied these principles and found that the statements in question constituted opinion rather than statements of fact,” explains Gabriela Šantare, Head of COBALT’s Administrative and Criminal Litigation Practice Group.
The client was represented in the proceedings by the COBALT team comprising Head of the Administrative and Criminal Litigation Practice Group Gabriela Šantare, Managing Partner Lauris Liepa, and Junior Associate Marisa Aktumane.
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