Blasphemy, insult and hatred: fi nding answers in a democratic society Science and technique of democracy, No. 47 Venice Commission Council of Europe Publishing For a full list of other titles in this collection, see the back of the book. The opinions expressed in this work are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-Rom, Internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior permission in writing from the Public Informa- tion and Publishing Division, Directorate of Communication (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]). Cover design and layout: Documents and Publications Production Department (SPDP), Council of Europe Council of Europe Publishing F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex http://book.coe.int ISBN 978-92-871-6678-4 © Council of Europe, March 2010 Printed at the Council of Europe Contents Foreword Simona Granata-Menghini ................................................................... 7 I. Report by the Venice Commission .......................................... 9 The relationship between freedom of expression and freedom of religion: the issue of regulation and prosecution of blasphemy, religious insult and incitement to religious hatred .............. 11 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 11 2. Applicable international standards ................................................. 13 3. National legislation on blasphemy, religious insults and inciting religious hatred ............................................................................ 18 3 4. General remarks .......................................................................... 22 5. Conclusions ................................................................................. 32 II. Council of Europe texts on respect for others’ culture and beliefs ............................................................................... 35 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance: General Policy Recommendation No. 7 on National legislation to combat racism and racial discrimination (adopted on 13 December 2002) ................... 37 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: Resolution 1510 (2006) Freedom of expression and respect for religious beliefs ............... 57 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: Recommendation 1805 (2007) Blasphemy, religious insults and hate speech against persons on grounds of their religion ..................................................................... 61 III. Excerpts from reports presented at the international round-table conference on Art and Sacred Beliefs: from Collision to Co-existence ............................................... 67 1. Art and Sacred Beliefs: from Collision to Co-existence Gianni Buquicchio ........................................................................ 69 Blasphemy, insult and hatred 2. Art and religious beliefs: the limits of liberalism Nicos C. Alivizatos ...................................................................... 73 3. An ethics of responsibility for artists Boualem Bessaih .......................................................................... 77 4. Art can legitimately offend Dimitris Christopoulos and Dimitri Dimoulis ...................................... 83 5. Whose responsibility? The case of Iran Karim Lahidji ............................................................................... 91 6. The intersection between freedom of expression and freedom of belief: the position of the United Nations Ariranga G. Pillay ........................................................................ 97 7. Blasphemy in the Greek Orthodox legal tradition Dimitris Sarafianos ..................................................................... 105 8. Blasphemy and justice in a Greek Orthodox context Michael Tsapogas .......................................................................113 9. Conflicts between fundamental rights: contrasting views on Articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights Françoise Tulkens ........................................................................121 4 10. Reshaping religion and religious criticism in ultramodernity Jean-Paul Willaime ................................................................... 133 11. Conclusions Pieter van Dijk ...........................................................................143 IV.Appendices to the Report by the Venice Commission ........ 147 Appendix I: Collection of European national laws on blasphemy, religious insult and incitement to religious hatred.................................. 149 Summary table ............................................................................... 149 Albania ..........................................................................................151 Andorra ..........................................................................................151 Armenia ......................................................................................... 152 Austria.............................................................................................152 Azerbaijan ..................................................................................... 153 Belgium ......................................................................................... 154 Bosnia and Herzegovina ...................................................................156 Bulgaria ......................................................................................... 157 Croatia............................................................................................159 Cyprus.............................................................................................159 Contents Czech Republic ................................................................................161 Denmark ........................................................................................ 162 Estonia .......................................................................................... 163 Finland ...........................................................................................164 France. ............................................................................................164 Georgia ......................................................................................... 172 Germany ....................................................................................... 174 Greece. .......................................................................................... 176 Hungary ........................................................................................ 178 Iceland. .......................................................................................... 179 Ireland.............................................................................................180 Italy.... ............................................................................................ 182 Latvia. ............................................................................................ 184 Liechtenstein ................................................................................... 185 Lithuania .........................................................................................187 Luxembourg .................................................................................... 190 Malta ............................................................................................ 193 Moldova ........................................................................................ 194 5 Monaco ......................................................................................... 195 Montenegro ....................................................................................197 The Netherlands ............................................................................. 198 Norway ......................................................................................... 201 Poland ........................................................................................... 202 Portugal ......................................................................................... 203 Romania ........................................................................................ 204 Russian Federation .......................................................................... 206 San Marino .................................................................................... 208 Serbia ........................................................................................... 209 Slovakia ......................................................................................... 209 Slovenia ......................................................................................... 210 Spain.... ......................................................................................... 212 Sweden ......................................................................................... 214 Switzerland .................................................................................... 215 “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” ................................... 216 Turkey ............................................................................................ 217 Ukraine .........................................................................................