Freedom of Speech and its Limits in Law The freedom of expression and its limits in the...
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Freedom of Speech and its Limits in Law The freedom of expression and its limits in the international law Part 1 dr Michał Urbańczyk [email protected] Katedra
Freedom of Speech and its Limits in Law The freedom of
expression and its limits in the international law Part 1 dr Micha
Urbaczyk [email protected] Katedra Doktryn Polityczno-Prawnych i
Filozofii WPiA UAM Pozna
Slide 2
The freedom of expression as a natural right of every human
being is an object of regulations of international law, which
developed particularly after World War II alongside the
establishment and evolution of the United Nations.
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gacy:y&lang=en&sf=arrival_date
Slide 3
Previous efforts to establish fixed rules on the international
level had proved futile due to the weakness of the UN predecessor,
the League of Nations.
http://www.leagueofnationshistory.org/resources.shtml
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http://totallyhistory.com/league-of-nations/
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/8/8/1/2/8812142/283566269.jpg
Slide 4
Human rights are treated as universal and basic rights, to
which every individual is entitled to in their contacts with the
state. Their original source is human dignity which is inalienable
and independent of the existence of a state and a commonwealth of
citizens.
Slide 5
The UN in 1945. In light blue, the founding members. In dark
blue, protectorates and colonies of the founding members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations#/media/File:United_Nations_Memb
er_States-1945.png
Slide 6
Every state is obliged to respect them with relation to their
own citizens, citizens of other states, as well as people who have
no citizenship but reside on their territory. Human rights are
therefore independent of citizenship (they can be enjoyed by
stateless persons under the jurisdiction of a particular
state).
Slide 7
Nowadays, the system of protection of human rights consists of
a range of acts of international law, passed by the UN and its
specialised units. Moreover, conventions are passed which are aimed
at regulating the question of human rights on the regional level.
http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-
un/funds-programmes-specialized-
agencies-and-others/index.html
Slide 8
for example: The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
2009 African Union member states in dark green, and the states with
(former) suspended membership in light green
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Chart
er_on_Human_and_Peoples%27_Rights
#/media/File:Map_of_the_African_Union _with_Suspended_States.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union#/media/File:African_Union_flag.svg
Slide 9
the OAS Charter, the American Declaration of the Rights and
Duties of Man, the American Convention on Human Rights, Seal of
Organization of American States (OAS)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#/media/File:Sea
l_of_the_Organization_of_American_States.svg
Slide 10
There is no one Asian-wide organisation or convention to
promote or protect human rights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia#/media/File:Asia_%28orth
ographic_projection%29.svg
Slide 11
The European Convention on Human Rights the Charter of
Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe#/media/File:Council_of_Europe
_logo_%282013_revised_version%29.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union#/media/File:Flag_of_Europe.svg
The freedom of expression takes one of the central places in
this regional systems. It is important that within this systems, in
the aforementioned acts, there are different regulations which deal
directly with the freedom of speech.
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Slide 14
What should be emphasised is that one of the most significant
achievements of the UN is its universalism - aiming at the
inclusion of all the states.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations#/media/File:United_Nations_Members.svg
Map showing the member states of the United Nations
Slide 15
The rights and freedoms are also defined as universal: every
individual is entitled to them because they are human (the subject
aspect); they are not dependent on the civilizational area, where
the individual lives (the territorial aspect); they last alongside
the development of societies and nations (the temporal
aspect).
Slide 16
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed during the 3rd
session of the UN General Assembly on 10th December 1948 in Paris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations#/media/File:Chile_signs_UN_Chart
er_1945.jpg
Slide 17
The Declaration strongly emphasises the rights and freedoms
regarding every person, everywhere and in all conditions (the
universality principle) and assumes that they are inseparable (i.e.
the personal and political rights on the one hand and social,
economic and cultural rights on the other, require the same
protection and are interdependent).
Slide 18
Article 19 Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers. Eleanor Roosevelt
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech
Slide 19
Article 27 should also remain within the scope of the research
question as it states that every man has a right to participate in
the scientific progress.
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Slide 20
Article 27 1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in
the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share
in scientific advancement and its benefits. 2. Everyone has the
right to the protection of the moral and material interests
resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of
which he is the author.
Slide 21
However, this provision cannot be interpreted separately from
other regulations of the Declaration, which define its limits as
well as the limits of other freedoms included therein.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/09/u-n-chief-free-speech-has-limits/
Slide 22
Article 29 1. Everyone has duties to the community in which
alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/udhr/article_29.html
Slide 23
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall
be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely
for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the
rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements
of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic
society.
Slide 24
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised
contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
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Slide 25
Bearing all this in mind, the following limits to the freedom
of speech can be indicated: the use of the freedom of expression
must include the obligations which an individual has towards the
society, in which they live, the protection of values such as
morality, public order, universal democratic wellbeing, the freedom
of expression cannot infringe upon the objectives and principles of
the United Nations.
Slide 26
Since the Declaration is not an act of the international law,
the work on other legal acts was initiated following its enactment.
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Covenant-on-Civil-and-Political-Rights.jpg http://www.cd
hrap.net/en/w p- content/uploa ds/Internation al-Covenant-
on-Economic- Social-and- Cultural- Rights.jpg
Slide 27
These were passed in 1966 and include: International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. Alongside the Declaration and the two
Optional Protocols (on establishing the right to submit individual
petitions (1966) and on the abolition of the death penalty (1989))
they form the so-called International Bill of Human Rights.
Slide 28
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was passed
during the UN conference in New York in 1966. It dealt with the
basic human rights and freedoms and the obligation of the State
towards its citizens. Unlike the Declaration it is legally
binding.
Slide 29
Article 19 of the Covenant is directly concerned with the
freedom of expression.
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Slide 30
Article 19 1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions
without interference. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom
of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of
frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of
art, or through any other media of his choice.
Slide 31
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of
this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities.
It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these
shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: a) for
respect of the rights or reputations of others; b) for the
protection of national security or of public order (ordre public),
or of public health or morals.
Slide 32
As a result, the freedom of expression may eventually be
subject to some limitations, which has to be introduced by means of
an act of parliament (not any legal act of lower rank) and have the
attribute of necessity in order to: respect the rights and good
name of others, protect national security or public order, or
public health or morality.
Slide 33
Apart from these formal limitations, the Covenant envisages
limitations to the freedom of speech with respect to the content.
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Slide 34
Article 20 of the Covenant states that any war propaganda
should be prohibited by law. Also, any support for national, racial
or religious hatred which constitutes an incitement to
discrimination, hostility or rape should also be legally
prohibited. As a result the Covenant indicated what statements do
not enjoy the right of distribution.
Slide 35
Similar provisions are included in the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/cerd/cerd.html
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Slide 36
Article 4 states that the states-parties to the Convention
condemn every propaganda based on the ideas or theories of the
supremacy of one race or group of people of a certain skin colour
or ethnic origin, or theories which try to justify or support the
racial hatred and discrimination in any form.
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Slide 37
Alongside the universal system of human rights protection,
other regional systems have also been formed by, i.e: the Council
of Europe, the Organisation of American States, the Organisation of
African Unity. http://i mages 6.fanpo p.com/i mage/p hotos/3 320000
0/Relig ous- Equalit y- human- rights- 332651 24-900- 600.pn g
Slide 38
The foundations of the European system of human rights were
laid by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedomfrom 1950. http://www.wya.net/wp-
content/uploads/201http://www.wya.net/wp- content/uploads/201s
5/02/European- court-of-human-r-008.jpg5/02/European-
court-of-human-r-008.jpg
Slide 39
Article 10 Freedom of expression Everyone has the right to
freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold
opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without
interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This
article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of
broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
Slide 40
The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties
and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities,
conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and
are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of:
national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the
prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or
morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others,
for preventing the disclosure of information received in
confidence, for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the
judiciary.
Slide 41
The Strasbourg organs see the complexity of complaints
concerning the infringements of Article 10 since in the European
system one should not look for the protection of the freedom of
opinions threatening the essence of the democratic society.
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Slide 42
Article 17 Prohibition of abuse of rights Nothing in this
Convention may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or
person any right to engage in any activity or perform any act aimed
at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth
herein or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided
for in the Convention.
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