This public lecture is now available as: MP3 (please listen to the file below in three parts) and PDF (as a courtesy to the presenter, please contact her for permission to refer to her PowerPoint notes for the purpose of further research)

The need to provide legal regulation against hateful expressions emerged at national and international levels after World War II. The concept of ‘hate speech’ is taken from US legal scholarship and comprises messages that convey prejudice and discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, etc. In the US racist expressions are shielded by the First Amendment on the freedom of expression. In contrast, a strong commitment exists in Europe against hate speech. This paper discusses the European legal approach that finds expression in legislation in European countries as well as in case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The paper focuses on ECHR case law on hate speech cases, particularly racist speech, and underlines the existing consensus on the need to legislate against hate speech. Nevertheless, there are key differences between European countries in the legislative and judicial tools they use to deal with hate and racist speech. The paper concludes with reference to the Canadian model of dealing with hate speech, which focuses on the protection of values such as multiculturalism and group identity. 

Irene Spigno is Research Fellow in Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Siena (Italy). She obtained her PhD in Comparative Public Law in 2010, and holds a Masters in History, Politics and Comparative Law in Mediterranean Countries from the University of Messina (Italy). Amongst others, she has been a visiting scholar at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, University of Alberta, Max Plank Institute for Comparative and International Law in Heidelberg (Germany), University of Namibia and the Supreme Court of Namibia. She presented and discussed her research at many conferences in for example the UK, Mexico, Italy. She published articles in Osservatorio Sulle Fonti (2008), Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo (2008 and 2010), Rivista Giuridica Sarda (2011) and Revista General de Derecho Publico Comparado (2011).

To view the flyer for this event please see: Hate Speech Towards Freedom of Expression and Human Dignity:  The European Perspective