Freedom of Speech

by Barendt, Eric

• ISBN13: 9780199244515
• ISBN10: 0199244510
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is a fully revised and updated new edition of the classic work first published in 1985. There have been many important developments since the first edition including the impact of the European Human Rights Convention. Social and cultural changes mean that free speech claims are being made in novel contexts. Barendt considers the meaning and scope of freedom of speech and examines the varied approaches of different legal systems and constitutional traditions to balancing free speech and freedom of the press against rights to reputation and privacy, and to copyright.

Author Biography

Eric Barendt is Goodman Professor of Media Law at University College London.

Table of Contents

A Note on Abbreviations	xvii
Table of United Kingdom Cases	xix
Table of United States Cases	xxiv
Table of German Cases	xxxi
Table of Decisions of the European Commission and Court of Human Rights	xxxiii
Cases from Other Jurisdictions	xxxvi
I. Why Protect Free Speech?	1	(38)
1. Introduction	1	(5)
2. Four Arguments for a Free Speech Principle	6	(17)
(i) Arguments concerned with the importance of discovering truth	7	(6)
(ii) Free speech as an aspect of self-fulfillment	13	(5)
(iii) The argument from citizen participation in a democracy	18	(3)
(iv) Suspicion of government	21	(2)
3. Free Speech Interests	23	(7)
(i) The speaker's interest in communicating ideas and information	23	(2)
(ii) The audience interest in receiving ideas and information	25	(2)
(iii) The bystanders' (or public) interest in speech	27	(3)
4. Freedom of Speech and Other Values	30	(6)
(i) Hate speech, dignity; and equality	31	(3)
(ii) Pluralism and freedom of speech	34	(2)
5. The Constitutional Protection of Free Speech	36	(3)
II. Free Speech in Liberal Legal Systems	39	(35)
1. England	39	(9)
(i) Common law	40	(2)
(ii) The Human Rights Act 1998	42	(3)
(iii) Free speech cases after the Human Rights Act 1998	45	(3)
2. United States of America	48	(7)
3. Canada	55	(4)
4. Germany	59	(5)
5. The European Human Rights Convention	64	(3)
6. Other Jurisdictions	67	(7)
(i) France	67	(3)
(ii) Italy	70	(1)
(iii) Australia	71	(3)
III. The Scope of Freedom of Speech	74	(43)
1. Introduction	74	(4)
2. Speech and Conduct	78	(10)
(i) General issues	78	(6)
(ii) Flag desecration	84	(2)
(iii) Nude dancing and sexually explicit conduct	86	(1)
(iv) Conclusions	87	(1)
3. Speech and Money	88	(5)
(i) General issues	88	(3)
(ii) Corporate speech	91	(2)
4. Rights Not to Speak	93	(5)
5. Language Rights	98	(2)
6. What Type of Freedom?	100	(8)
(i) Preliminary issues	100	(4)
(ii) Only a narrow liberty?	104	(4)
7. Access to Information	108	(4)
8. Freedom of Speech and Government Subsidies	112	(5)
IV. Prior Restraints	117	(37)
1. The Varieties and Vices of Prior Restraints	118	(11)
(i) The distinction between prior restraints and penal sanctions	118	(4)
(ii) The principal features of classic prior restraints	122	(2)
(iii) Judicial prior restraints	124	(4)
(iv) Conclusions	128	(1)
2. Theatre, Film, and Video Censorship	129	(7)
3. Official Secrets and Confidential Information	136	(9)
4. Contempt of Court and Permits for Meetings	145	(6)
(i) Contempt of court	145	(3)
(ii) Permits for meetings	148	(3)
5. Private Censorship	151	(3)
V. Political Speech	154	(44)
1. Introduction	154	(1)
2. The Preferred Position of Political Speech	155	(7)
3. Sedition and Related Offences	162	(8)
4. Racist Hate Speech	170	(16)
(i) Arguments of principle	170	(7)
(ii) Hate speech laws	177	(9)
5. Blasphemy and Incitement to Religious Hatred	186	(6)
(i) The common law of blasphemy	186	(3)
(ii) Religious hatred laws and freedom of speech	189	(3)
6. Disclosure of Official Secrets	192	(6)
(i) General principles	192	(3)
(ii) Official secrets laws	195	(3)
VI. Libel and Invasion of Privacy	198	(49)
1. Introduction	198	(1)
2. Is Defamation 'Speech'?	199	(6)
3. Balancing Free Speech and Reputation	205	(22)
(i) The United States	206	(5)
(ii) Australia and New Zealand	211	(2)
(iii) Germany	213	(6)
(iv) England	219	(3)
(v) The European Convention on Human Rights	222	(3)
(vi) Conclusions on balancing in libel cases	225	(2)
4. Insults and Satire	227	(3)
5. Privacy and Free Speech	230	(17)
(i) Introduction	230	(2)
(ii) Publication of confidential information	232	(3)
(iii) Revealing personal identity	235	(2)
(iv) Publication of photographs	237	(3)
(v) Presenting the claimant in a false light	240	(1)
(vi) The privacy of politicians and other public figures	241	(3)
(vii) Conclusions on balancing in privacy cases	244	(3)
VII. Copyright and Other Property Rights	247	(21)
1. Introduction	247	(1)
2. Why is Copyright Immune from Free Speech Scrutiny?	248	(6)
(i) Doctrinal arguments	248	(3)
(ii) Historical arguments	251	(2)
(iii) Copyright is a property right	253	(1)
3. Free Speech Coverage of Copyright Infringement	254	(6)
(i) General arguments for coverage	254	(2)
(ii) The free speech interests of infringers	256	(3)
(iii) Deference to copyright legislation	259	(1)
4. Balancing Copyright and Freedom of Speech	260	(3)
5. Trade Mark and Publicity Rights	263	(5)
(i) Trade marks and the Gay Olympics case	263	(2)
(ii) Publicity rights	265	(3)
VIII. Meetings, Protest, and Public Order	268	(44)
1. Introduction	268	(2)
2. The Right to Assemble and Freedom of Speech	270	(3)
3. Access to Streets and Other Public Fora	273	(17)
(i) Theoretical issues	273	(3)
(ii) Traditional public fora: streets, open spaces, and public halls	276	(5)
(iii) New public fora for speech and assembly	281	(5)
(iv) Freedom of speech on private property	286	(3)
(v) Conclusions	289	(1)
4. Public Order	290	(16)
(i) General principles	290	(5)
(ii) Inflammatory and offensive speech	295	(7)
(iii) The problem of the hostile audience	302	(4)
5. Notice and Buffer-Zone Requirements	306	(6)
(i) Notice requirements	306	(2)
(ii) Buffer zones to regulate anti-abortion protest	308	(4)
IX. Free Speech and the Judicial Process	312	(40)
1. Introduction	312	(4)
2. Attacks on the Judiciary	316	(6)
3. Prejudice to Legal Proceedings	322	(16)
(i) Arguments of principle	323	(5)
(ii) Legal restrictions on prejudicial publicity	328	(3)
(iii) Alternatives to contempt of court proceedings	331	(3)
(iv) The law in the United States	334	(2)
(v) Balancing free speech and the administration of justice	336	(2)
4. Open Justice	338	(14)
(i) Arguments of principle	338	(4)
(ii) Access to the courts	342	(4)
(iii) Televising court proceedings	346	(3)
(iv) Reporting restrictions	349	(3)
X. Pornography	352	(40)
1. Introduction	352	(3)
2. Is Pornography 'Speech'?	355	(8)
(i) Arguments of principle	355	(6)
(ii) Pornography which falls outside 'speech'	361	(2)
3. Obscenity and the Moral Tone of Society	363	(7)
4. Specific Harms	370	(11)
(i) Introduction	370	(1)
(ii) The character of the harm	371	(2)
(iii) Sexual crimes	373	(1)
(iv) Harm to children	374	(4)
(v) Harm to women	378	(3)
(vi) Conclusions	381	(1)
5. Pornography, the Arts, and Learning	381	(4)
6. Pornography and Offensiveness	385	(7)
XI. Commercial Speech	392	(25)
1. Introduction	392	(3)
2. What is Commercial Speech?	395	(4)
3. Should Commercial Speech be Covered by Free Speech Clauses?	399	(7)
(i) Introduction	399	(2)
(ii) The interest of consumers in commercial information	401	(1)
(iii) The public interest in the free flow of commercial information	402	(1)
(iv) Paternalism	403	(1)
(v) Conclusions	404	(2)
4. The Regulation of Advertising	406	(7)
(i) General principles	406	(3)
(ii) Restrictions on professional advertising	409	(3)
(iii) Disclosure requirements	412	(1)
5. Tobacco Advertising	413	(4)
XII. Freedom of Speech in the Media	417	(34)
1. Introduction	417	(2)
2. Press Freedom and Free Speech	419	(8)
(i) Three perspectives on press freedom	419	(6)
(ii) Editorial freedom	425	(2)
3. The Implications of a Distinct Press and Media Freedom	427	(14)
(i) Taxation and the media	427	(2)
(ii) Competition law and the media	429	(5)
(iii) Press rights of access to information	434	(1)
(iv) Privilege not to disclose sources of information	435	(6)
4. Whose Right to Press and Media Freedom?	441	(3)
5. Freedom of Speech and Broadcasting	444	(5)
6. Conclusions	449	(2)
XIII. Freedom of Speech and the Internet	451	(24)
1. Introduction	451	(4)
2. How Should the Internet be Treated?	455	(3)
(i) Rejection of the analogy with broadcasting	455	(1)
(ii) Similar, but not identical, to the press	455	(1)
(iii) The Internet is not a public forum	456	(2)
3. Pornography on the Internet	458	(5)
(i) The application of obscenity laws	458	(1)
(ii) The protection of children	459	(2)
(iii) Indecent images of children on the Internet	461	(2)
4. Defamation and the Internet	463	(5)
(i) General principles	463	(1)
(ii) The immunity of Internet service providers	464	(2)
(iii) Wider defences for individuals?	466	(2)
5. The Problems of Global Communication	468	(7)
(i) Introduction	468	(1)
(ii) The appropriate forum for the regulation of Internet communications	469	(2)
(iii) Enforcement of judgments	471	(1)
(iv) Legal and technical solutions to the regulation of global communications	472	(3)
XIV. Freedom of Speech in Special Contexts	475	(32)
1. Introduction	475	(1)
2. Election Campaigns	476	(10)
(i) Limits on expenditure and contributions	476	(8)
(ii) Other issues	484	(2)
3. Free Speech in Employment	486	(10)
(i) Preliminary issues	486	(3)
(ii) Balancing the interests of employees and employers	489	(5)
(iii) Speech by members of the armed forces	494	(2)
4. Free Speech in Education	496	(6)
(i) Introduction	496	(1)
(ii) The free speech rights of students and teachers	497	(3)
(iii) Free speech in universities	500	(2)
5. Free Speech and Prisoners	502	(5)
Select Bibliography	507	(6)
Index	513