Truth on Trial: Law, Memory and Freedom of Expression in Europe

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Author	Poorna Mishra

TruthonTrial:Law,Memory,andFreedom

ofExpressioninEurope



ByPoornaMishra*



Thisarticlearguesthat‘memorylaws’,lawsthat

criminalisespeechactsthatnegatecertainhistorical

atrocities,conflictwiththerighttofreedomof

expressionassetoutintheInternationalCovenant

onCivilandPoliticalRights(ICCPR)andthe

EuropeanConventiononHumanRights(ECHR).

Theapproachesemployedbythegoverningbodiesof

thesetreatiesareexamined,andacaseismadefora

purelycontext‐basedassessmentwhenconsidering

theimpugnedspeechact,wherethenecessity

principlegoverns.TheguillotineeffectofArticle17

oftheECHRisproblematicasitremovesany

contextualanalysisofwhetherrestrictingthespeech

actinquestionisinfact‘necessary’.TheEuropean

CourtofHumanRights(ECtHR)shouldmovecloser

towardstheapproachoftheHumanRights

Committee(HRC),wherealimitationjustifiedonthe

basisofcontentmustalsocomplywiththenecessity

principle.Itisfurtherarguedthatgenericincitement

lawsarebetterequippedindealingwithextreme

speech,astheycanfacilitateamoremeaningful

analysisofthe‘likelihoodofharm’.Moreover,

legislatingonhistoricalmemorypersecarrieswithit

publicdiplomacyconcerns.Theslipperyslopeeffect

isevidencedintheEUFrameworkDecisionon

CombatingRacismandXenophobia(EUFramework

Decision),whichpavedthewayfornewmemory

72SLJ5(1)



lawsconcerningstill‐debatedatrocities.Thetaskof

preservinghistoricalmemoryshouldultimatelyliein

non‐legislativemeasures.



Introduction



‘Sticksandstonesmaybreakmybones

Butwordswillneverhurtme.’



Thisoldadage,generallyconfinedtochildren’splaygrounds,

isusedtoencouragethevictimofname‐callingorbullyingto

ignorethetauntandremaincalmandgood‐natured.Its

presenceinapaperaboutlaw,genocidedenial,andfreedom

ofexpressionmaybesurprising,giventhecontextinwhichit

isusuallyheard.However,theverseʹsbasicnotion,thatone

shouldriseaboveverbalinsultsandabuse,isonethatis

relevanttoanydiscussioninvolvingthelimitsoffreespeech.

Words,asweknow,cananddocauseharm,andthisis

essentiallywhylegislationdealingwithnegationistspeech

exists.Someideasareconsideredsopernicious,soabhorrent,

thatthemerefactofutteringthemisjudgedtobepunishable.

Europeanstatesareincreasinglyturningtocriminallaw

sanctionsinthecourseofdeterringthedisseminationofsuch

ideasandtherebypreservingthecollectivememoryofa

society.Germany,France,andSpainarejustthreeamong

severalcountries,whichnowhavesomeformof‘memory

laws’‐nationalcriminallawsagainstthenegationismof

certainhistoricalfacts–inplace.1

*PoornaMishraiscurrentlyworkinginDigitalRightsata

London‐basedonlinemediacompany.SheholdsanLLMfrom

theUniversityofLondonSOAS.

TruthonTrial73





TheadoptionofsuchmemorylawsacrossEuropehas

sparkedbothacademicandpoliticaldiscussionastothe

interplaybetweenlaw,history,andhumanrights.Lawcan

besaidtohave‘shapedhistoricalmemory’2,particularlyin

thecontextofmodernconstitutions,whichstandlargely‘as

responsestothearrivaloroverthrowofsome…imperial

power’3andareeffectively‘codifiedmemoriesofan

overthrownpast’.4Inthisregard,lawandhistoryare,and

alwayshavebeen,inseparable.



Memorylawsarebuta‘recentsubsetofthefarbroader,age‐

oldcategoryoflawaffectinghistoricalmemory’.5Here,lawis

essentiallybeingusedtoaddwhatHeinzeterms‘expressive

weight’6;thelevelofopportunityaffordedtoanopiniontobe

1Statesbanningdenialofawiderclassofcrimes:Spain(Penal

Code,Art607(2)againstgenocides’justification),Luxembourg

(PenalCode,Art457‐3targetingHolocaustandother

genocides),Liechtenstein(PenalCode,Section283(1)(5),

genocideandothercrimesagainsthumanity),Switzerland

(PenalCode,Art261bis(4),genocideandcrimesagainst

humanity),Malta(PenalCode,Art83B,genocide,crimes

againsthumanityandwarcrimes),Slovenia(PenalCode,Art

297,genocide,crimesagainsthumanityandwarcrimes)and

Latvia(PenalCode,Art74.1,genocide,crimesagainst

humanity,crimesagainstpeaceandwarcrimes).

2EricHeinze,‘Beyond“MemoryLaws”:TowardsaGeneral

TheoryofLawandHistoricalDiscourse’inUladzislau

Belavusau&AleksandraGliszczyńska‐Grabias(eds),Lawand

Memory:AddressingHistoricalInjusticebyLaw(Cambridge

UniversityPress,forthcoming).

3Ibid4.

4Ibid4.

5Ibid3.

6Ibid.

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