Lèse-majesté: Archaic Anti-Speech Law

snaves (39)in #freespeech • 8 years ago

Lèse-majesté is the crime of insulting the dignity of a monarch or head of state. From the French, it translates literally to "injured majesty." Dating to at least the time of Ancient Rome, these archaic laws still exists in many countries. While some countries rarely prosecute it, others take it quite seriously. It violates rights to free expression by suppressing statements of political criticism. In the the United States, the types of expression prosecuted under lèse-majesté are clearly protected by the First Amendment.

_{Dutch King Willem-Alexander, at center, attempting to stand like a human. (Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images)}

In Europe, despite Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights guaranteeing freedom of expression, several countries still have lèse-majesté laws which are sometimes prosecuted. It is illegal to insult foreign heads of state in Iceland, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and until the beginning of 2018, Germany. It is illegal to insult the monarchy in the Netherlands and Spain. Most charges in Europe end up being dropped or reduced to fines.

While still being illegal, a bill is moving through the Dutch Parliament which would reduce the maximum penalty from 5 years in jail to 4 months, putting it on par with the penalty for verbally abusing civil servants such as police. The maximum penalty for insulting a foreign head of state would be reduced from 2 years to 4 months. The law is rarely applied in the Netherlands, and for low penalties when it is, but this bill is a step in the right direction.

In Spain, the government is clamping down on political speech in response to the Catalan secession movement. They are mostly using a broad anti-terror law to silence political speech and artistic expression, but the lèse-majesté law has also been used as in the case of two Catalans who burned a picture of the king and queen. The long legal battle began in 2007 and an initial sentence of 15 months in jail was reduced to a 2,700 euro fine. The European Court of Human Rights finally ruled in March of this year that the incident was protected political criticism and ordered Spain to reimburse them.

Other countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have lèse-majesté laws which are often applied more frequently and harshly. Notably, the countries of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Malaysia, and Thailand are very strict in punishing insults to the monarchy. In Saudi Arabia, corporal punishments such as lashings are often inflicted. Morocco jails people 1 to 5 years for statements offensive to the king. Malaysia has been intensifying its crackdown on political criticism with its sedition law for insulting the royal institution and a new law against "fake news." Thailand also routinely uses lèse-majesté to stifle political speech.

Around the world, lèse-majesté laws are used to stifle free expression and political criticism. It shows why it is wrong to legislate against offense. Offense is subjective and laws against making it are prone to abuse by those in power. It is characteristic of an authoritarian system where political speech and artistic expression is suppressed and the environment is one of self-censorship.