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issued by the Registrar of the Court ECHR 288 (2025) 08.12.2025 Forthcoming ruling in Grand Chamber case concerning disciplinary sanction imposed on Romanian judge for Facebook posts The European Court of Human Rights will deliver its ruling in the case of Danile v. Romania (application no. 16915/21) at a public hearing on 15 December 2025 at 10.30 a.m. in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg. The delivery will be broadcast live on the European Court's YouTube channel. The case concerns a disciplinary sanction imposed on a judge by the National Judicial and Legal Service Commission for posting two messages on his Facebook page. Principal facts and complaints The applicant, Vasilic-Cristi Danile, is a Romanian national who was born in 1975. In 2019 the National Judicial and Legal Service Commission (Consiliul Superior al Magistraturii � "the CSM") imposed a two-month, 5% pay cut on Mr Danile as a disciplinary sanction for posting two messages on his Facebook page. Basing its decision on Article 99 (a) of Law no. 303/2004 on the rules governing judges and public prosecutors, the CSM found that, in his first post, Mr Danile had impaired the honour and image of the justice system and had breached his duty of discretion. It further found that the language he had used in his comment on the second post had overstepped the limits of propriety and had been unworthy of a judge. In May 2020 the High Court of Cassation and Justice dismissed an appeal by Mr Danile and upheld the CSM's decision. Complaint Relying on Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Mr Danile complains of an interference with his freedom of expression. Procedure The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 18 March 2021. In its judgment of 20 February 2024 the Court (Chamber) held, by a majority, that there had been a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. On 24 June 2024 the case was referred to the Grand Chamber at the Romanian Government's request. Several organisations were granted leave to intervene in the written proceedings as third parties. A hearing was held on 18 December 2024. This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions, judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int. Follow the Court on Bluesky @echr.coe.int, X ECHR_CEDH, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Contact ECHRPress to subscribe to the press-release mailing list. Where can the Court's press releases be found? HUDOC - Press collection Press contacts [email protected] | tel: + 33 3 90 21 42 08 We are happy to receive journalists' enquiries via either email or telephone. Inci Ertekin (tel: + 33 3 90 21 55 30) Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel: + 33 3 88 41 35 30) Denis Lambert (tel: + 33 3 90 21 41 09) Jane Swift (tel: + 33 3 88 41 29 04) Claire Windsor (tel: + 33 3 88 41 24 01) The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. 2