Human Rights Guide

Case

Puzinas v. Lithuania

European Court of Human Rights
14 March 2002

Facts

The applicant, Mr. Puzinas, was serving a prison sentence. He was communicating with various national and international institutions regarding the prison administrations’ refusal to transfer him to another prison.  The letters he received from the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the European Commission of Human Rights had been opened by the prison authorities. A letter to his wife was also opened and censored.

Complaint

Mr. Puzinas alleged that the control and censorship of his correspondence by the prison administration amounted to a violation of his right to respect for his correspondence. 

Court's ruling

The Court agreed that the intervention with Mr. Puzinas right to respect for his correspondence was prescribed by the Lithuanian law and it had a legitimate aim - the prevention of disorder and crime. However, since the government had provided no specific reasons for opening or censoring his correspondence, the Court could not find such interference necessary. 

Therefore the Court ruled that there has been a violation of the right to respect for the correspondence of Mr. Puzinas.

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