JN801

HATE SPEECH - GROUP LIBEL?

Reading List and Seminar Worksheet 2015/16

We consider the law relating to various types of Hate Speech.What is their aim? How effective are they?

We also examine the attitude of the ECHR. How does it balance Art 9 (Rights to Religion and conscience) with Art 10?

Inevitably, we will move on to speech/expression that is ‘offensive’. You must know about the killings at ‘Charlie Hebdo’ as well as the recent attacks in Copenhagen related to freedom of expression. Do bring anything along that you think will inform our discussion.

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Readings

The readings are not in any particular order here.

Read what you can from the pack. Smartt is helpful to an extent and so is Robertson & Nicol for background detail.

Fenwick and Phillipson contains a very good section on the concepts and arguments. You will get a lot of information and ideas from reading the materials in the reading pack - details below. Some of these are quite short and some are longer. Please try to read as many as you can.

  1. Any of the following Items in the reading pack - 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 14,15 and 16 in the pack. They all relate to freedom of speech and specific issues under discussion here.
  1. Smartt has some discussion on this subject in the chapter you read for last week’s seminar. There is not much on the law now but it is helpful for context.
  1. Find DPP v McConnell [2016] NIMag 1 (online). This is a very recent case where the issue was hate speech. I will also bring this to the class.

3. The Racial & Religious Hatred Act 2006 – online.

4.Robertson & Nicol 5th Ed. pp 252 – 264. Discusses blasphemy prior to abolition and also the Racial & Religious Hatred Act.

5.‘The problem of blasphemy and defamation of religion laws.’ Paul Sturges on problem of blasphemy of religion. – available online – only a short article but a good discussion.

The following can be helpful as well.

1. Look online for the guidance from the Ministry of Justice re the offence of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. You can also find interesting stuff on the Stonewall site and other sites.

2. Fenwick & Phillipson pp 481 – 534 Chapter 9 – An excellent background & discussion on this area. If you are thinking of looking at this area of law for your Spring term essay this is essential reading!

Additional Readings that will be helpful if you are thinking of researching this topic for an essay.

  1. Barendt ‘Freedom of Speech’ pp 170 -192 – A useful examination of ideas relating to ‘Hate’ Speech whether directed at race or religion. Also contains a very cogent argument against the introduction of laws relating to religious hatred.
  1. ‘A Right to Offend.’ Brian Winston Bloomsbury 2012 Looks at any type of offensive or disputatious speech from a historical perspective.

3. ‘Sticks & Stones’ John Arthur from ‘Ethics in Practice’ Ed. Hugh La Follette 3rd Ed Blackwell 2006 p.392

4. ‘Speech Codes and Expressive Harm’ Andrew Altman from ‘Ethics in Practice’ as above p. 411

5.Expanding holocaust denial and legislation against it.’ Michael Whine Comms. Law 2008 (online)

6. ‘Hatred, sexual orientation, free speech and religious liberty’ Ian Leigh Ecclesiastical Law Journal 2008 (online)

7.’Crosses, crescents and sacred cows: criminalising incitement to religious hatred’

Ivan Hare Public Law 2006 (online)

8. ‘Racism’ Michele Moody-Adams from ‘Ethics in Practice’ as above p 424

9. ‘Obscene and Blasphemous Art: Misunderstanding Art’ Kearns Crim L.R. 2000 Aug 652 – 660 Available online

10. ‘Viewpoint Absolutism and Hate Speech’ Eric Heinze MLR 2006 Vol 69 (4) 543

Available online.

11. ‘English Law and Incitement to Racial Hatred’ Anthony F.Dickey Race & Class IX 3 (1968) Available online

Worksheet Questions –

Think about the concept of freedom of expression again and the supposed benefits for any society and individuals.

In the USA there is a guarantee of freedom of speech in the constitution – the first amendment. So - the forms of speech regulated in the UK, are allowed there. How does this affect society? Is legal regulation the correct/only way to challenge forms of speech we do not like?

  1. What is the difference between the law relating to racial hatred and that relating to religious hatred or sexual orientation?
  1. What should be the aim of legislation banning hate speech? Should it beto protect a person’s dignity or should it be concerned onlywith personal physical safety and public order?
  1. How difficult is it for UK courts and the ECtHR to deal with any clash between Art 9 rights (Freedom of religious belief) and freedom of expression (Art 10)?

Should any account be taken of religious belief in this context? Look at

the McConnell case re this Q.

  1. Should the law prevent speech that is merely ‘offensive’? What is ‘offensive’?

Is this too difficult to define accurately? Is what is ‘offensive’ inherently personal?

  1. Read the case noteof Sheppardin the reading pack. What did the court decide? In your opinion, did the court make the correct decision?
  1. ‘Holocaust denial’ is a crime in many countries. Should ‘Holocaust Denial’ be made a crime in the UK?
  1. The cartoons printed in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten created many problems.Read item 15 in thepack. There is a lot of material online about this as well.Cartoons printed in CharlieHebdo led to the deaths of many of the contributors. What are your feelings about these publications? Should such material even be published? Is this material ‘hate speech’ or merely offensive?

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