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U.S. JURIST PUBLISHES ARTICLE ON FRENCH BILL CRIMINALIZING GENOCIDE DENIAL
PanARMENIAN.Net
February 16, 2012 - 18:10 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh
School of Law, member of the American Law Institute and of the
International Academy of Comparative Law Vivian Curran published an
article about French Senate's adoption of the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide denial, titled "Balancing Freedom of Expression
and Human Rights in France."
Curran stresses the need to review France's past to have better
understanding of definitions of freedom of speech and human rights
applied in the country.
"French politics became virulent, as the Dreyfus Affair soon revealed.
A ferocious anti-Semitism developed and exploded during the time
of the Affair, when an innocent French Jewish captain was tried and
convicted of spying for Germany," Curran writes.
The author further calls attention to France's role in Holocaust.
"France's part in the Holocaust was highly complex. In part, it was
fueled by the rhetoric and actions of those whose anti-Semitism harked
to the Dreyfus days and made common cause with the Nazis during the
Second World War," the article reads.
"Due to France's history, the freedom of speech and press which has
allowed a vast panoply of views and practices to flourish in France is
not the same as its First Amendment counterpart in the US. Underlying
the French value of freedom of expression is a greater sense of
vulnerability that comes from knowing first-hand that democracy is
not necessarily a self-perpetuating system," Curran writes.
On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. Expected
to be signed into law by President within 14 days, the bill will
impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France
who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.
PanARMENIAN.Net
February 16, 2012 - 18:10 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh
School of Law, member of the American Law Institute and of the
International Academy of Comparative Law Vivian Curran published an
article about French Senate's adoption of the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide denial, titled "Balancing Freedom of Expression
and Human Rights in France."
Curran stresses the need to review France's past to have better
understanding of definitions of freedom of speech and human rights
applied in the country.
"French politics became virulent, as the Dreyfus Affair soon revealed.
A ferocious anti-Semitism developed and exploded during the time
of the Affair, when an innocent French Jewish captain was tried and
convicted of spying for Germany," Curran writes.
The author further calls attention to France's role in Holocaust.
"France's part in the Holocaust was highly complex. In part, it was
fueled by the rhetoric and actions of those whose anti-Semitism harked
to the Dreyfus days and made common cause with the Nazis during the
Second World War," the article reads.
"Due to France's history, the freedom of speech and press which has
allowed a vast panoply of views and practices to flourish in France is
not the same as its First Amendment counterpart in the US. Underlying
the French value of freedom of expression is a greater sense of
vulnerability that comes from knowing first-hand that democracy is
not necessarily a self-perpetuating system," Curran writes.
On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. Expected
to be signed into law by President within 14 days, the bill will
impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France
who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.