“Chilling effect”, towards an additional standard for the protection of freedom of expression

In a democratic society, no one should be hindered to exercise his/her rights, rather he/she should be encouraged, especially when these rights are not merely individual but linked to the interests of society as a whole. This is also the aim of this article, to encourage the public to recognize a little-known concept in our country and to contribute to the Albanian legal literature on understanding and applying the concept of chilling effect, according to the ECtHR’s standard. In this line, the article after introducing the terminology, the forms in which the chilling effect appears and the subjects that exercise and “suffer” it, handles the latest ECtHR’s trends, and focuses even in cases where the chilling effect appears in the Albanian practice.