Incitement of racial hatred
Legislation on incitement of racial hatred is an essential instrument for counteracting racist and anti-Semitic spoken or written communications. In Sweden, the various provisions, which are not only to be found in the Penal Code but also in the Ordinance on Freedom of Expression and in constitution...
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2000
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| In: |
Journal of Scandinavian studies in criminology and crime prevention
Year: 2000, Volume: 1, Issue: 2, Pages: 109-120 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Availability in Tübingen: | Present in Tübingen. IFK: In: Z 181 |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | Legislation on incitement of racial hatred is an essential instrument for counteracting racist and anti-Semitic spoken or written communications. In Sweden, the various provisions, which are not only to be found in the Penal Code but also in the Ordinance on Freedom of Expression and in constitutional law on the freedom of expression, are fundamental elements of the legislation against racism, anti-Semitism and similar forms of agitation. In these provisions the legislator has set limits to the freedom of expression as far as racism, anti-Semitism, etc., are concerned. This is true regardless of whether the communication is expressed orally, as printed matter, through other media or in other ways. It is not necessary for the communication to have been disseminated publicly for punishment to be incurred; it suffices that dissemination has taken place within a limited circle. The provision appeared in its initial form in 1948. With the advent of the 1965 Penal Code it was transferred from the former Punishment Law to the new Code and has subsequently been modified in 1970, 1982 and 1988. It should be noted, however, that there is no provision for prior censorship. Each text, each symbol, each slogan, and so forth, must be adjudged by a court. The law in its basic form was sanctioned in 1956. The present article touches on trends concerning reported offences, trials and convictions during the 1990s. Unfortunately, it is not possible here to present statistics going further back in time, since the offence of incitement of racial hatred was not coded specifically in the crime statistics before that time. In the opening passages of the article, the advent of the law and important cases during the post-war period are discussed. The aim here is to describe how and why legislation has been used as well as the changes that have taken place over the past ten years |
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| ISSN: | 1404-3858 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/140438500300076090 |