Title: Criminalisation of genocide denial and freedom of expression

Authors: Inessa Shahnazarova

Addresses: European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), School of Law, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, Hendon NW4 4BT, UK

Abstract: With the entry into force of the EU Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia and the attempts of some states to adopt laws prohibiting genocide denial generally as opposed to the previously followed Holocaust denial model, it became increasingly important to assess the compatibility of criminalisation of the Armenian genocide denial with freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The legal compatibility analysis employed suggests that criminalisation of at least some forms of the Armenian genocide denial is compatible with the conventional right to freedom of expression.

Keywords: Armenian genocide; Holocaust denial; freedom of expression; European Court of Human Rights; European Convention on Human Rights; genocide denial; criminalisation; EU Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia; legal compatibility.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2013.057306

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2013 Vol.1 No.4, pp.322 - 340

Received: 08 Dec 2012
Accepted: 30 Dec 2012
Published online: 31 Mar 2014 *

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