The Risks under French Criminal Law of Editing an International Journal
| Published date | 01 June 2010 |
| Date | 01 June 2010 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/203228441000100203 |
| Subject Matter | Analysis & Opinions |
New Journal of Eur opean Crimina l Law, Vol. 1, Issue 2, 2010 135
THE RISKS UNDER FRENCH CRIMINAL LAW
OF EDITING AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
e Trial of Professor J.H.H. Weiler
Editor’s note:
Professor Weiler is a mongst other things Editor-in-Chief of the Europe an Journal of
International Law. He was asked to withdraw a book review by the author of the book
because she did not like the review. Professor Weiler refused, but not without oering
the aggrieved author t he opportu nity to reply to t he review. e author lodged a
complaint of crimi nal defamation. Under French law the authorities apparently have
no discretion whether or not to prosecute: the eect of the complaint is to compel a
crimina l trial.
As a gesture of suppor t we publish the Editorial Professor Weiler wrote about the
accusations a nd the prosecution aga inst him. A ny result other t han acquittal would
“deal a heavy blow to academic fre edom and change the landscape of book reviewing
in scholarly journal s, especially when reviews have a cy ber pres ence as is so common
today. Even if we do (prevail), the very fact of being subject to a crimina l process by
French public authorit ies a nd hav ing to undergo a criminal trial in these c ircumstances
coupled with the heavy nancial burden of defending such a case – expense s which
are in large part not recoverable even if acquitted – constitutes a serious chilling eect
on editorial discretion, freedom of spee ch and the very impor tant academic institution
of book reviewing”.
We as k: what sort of law is this? Could this happen in ot her Member States?
Wherewith the pri nciple of equivalence?
Please read on.
1. STANDING CRIMINAL TRIAL IN FRANCE
Readers of EJIL will be aware of the two book review websites which have been
associated for some time with this Journal and of which I am, too, Editor-in-Ch ief:
www.global lawbooks.org and www.Europeanlawbooks.org. You will nd links to
them on the very Homepage of w ww.ejil.org and www.ejiltalk .org. On 25 June 2010 I
will stand t rial before a Paris Criminal Tribunal for refusing to remove a book review
To continue reading
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