I was in court last week, answering a rather attractive, young female judge”s questions in an ongoing libel and defamation action brought by the chef of a Brasov restaurant against me, and the publication I edit, Bucharest In Your Pocket. It was only the second time I have been in front of a judge (the other was a similar case three years ago, more of which hereafter), and to be perfectly honest I was dreading the experience. As it turned out, however, it wasn”t all that bad.
Now, reporting restrictions and a wish not to prejudice the outcome forbid me from going into too much detail about the ongoing case. What I can report however is that in my view being critical does not equate to defamation, and that ultimately – for the case will drag on, and on – we will win.
It was thus in the first libel case I faced down, brought by the Becker Brau brewery in Bucharest. A writer of ours had had the temerity to criticise that establishment, and I, as editor, was taken to court to answer for him. My argument then was much the same as it is now: critic”s choice is sacred. As long as no direct accusations of professional malpractice are brought against an establishment, anyone has the right to criticise a hotel, restaurant, bar, club, museum or supermarket. A world without criticism would be a dull one, and publications like In Your Pocket – as well as the opinion pages of just about every newspaper in the free world – would simply cease to exist.
In Your Pocket publishes city guides in 19 countries and 40 cities across Europe. While we have been threatened with legal action in almost every one of those countries and cities, the only publication ever to have actually been taken to court is the Bucharest edition; not once, but twice. That leads me to make my own conclusions about Romania”s libel laws, as well as the mentality of the country”s restaurant owners.
Firstly, it is doubtful that the case brought by Becker Brau would ever have got to court in any other country. There was simply no case to answer. We published a writer”s opinions and that should have been that. Alas, as is so often the case, the difference between opinion and accusation – as well as that between criticism and libel – was lost on certain parts of our guide”s audience. Fortunately, the judge in that case was not so easily misled, and acquitted me and my publication of libel and slander.
Secondly, the indictment most often directed at me by restaurant owners (many of whom threaten legal action without actually taking it: the advice of a sound lawyer is usually enough to convince them they do not have a genuine case) is that I have no right to criticise their establishments or their chefs, as I have no training myself in the preparation of food. No, I do not, but neither do I hide the fact: I have never pretended to be an expert in kitchen arts. I am simply an ordinary fellow who knows from experience what he likes and what he doesn”t. But even that is beside the point: I did not know you had to be born a horse to become a jockey. Just as great footballers often make lousy coaches (a fine example is Romania”s Gheorghe Hagi, a super footballer who appears to be a little out of his depth as a coach even in Romania”s first division), I doubt there are too many chefs in the world who could actually write all that well about food.
Yet thinking a little more about the rigidity in the mindset of the Romanian restaurant owner, it strikes me that inflexibility remains a problem in a wide range of fields in this country. I have lost count of the number of times that journalist friends have got the cold shoulder from colleagues because they did not study journalism at university, while I also have friends in advertising agencies who are resented by their workmates for not having studied marketing.
Ultimately, there is no substitute for experience. While decent leaders understand this – and Romania is blessed with an increasingly large number of such people – far too many companies (and yes, restaurants) in this country are led by inflexible men and women. Because they spent years in a rigid system that made a virtue out of conformity, obedience and compliance, they have little time for today”s Young Turks. Fortunately, they are a dwindling number. As their companies close – beaten into submission by more flexible rivals – they are left only with their pilfered villas for company. Good riddance in my humble opinion. I just hope they don”t all decide to open restaurants.
* Craig Turp, as you may have guessed, is the editor of Bucharest In Your Pocket.