The European Approach to Legal Regulation of Hate Speech
Professor Bjørnar Borvik
University of Bergen Faculty of Law
Date: April 24, 2019 (Wednesday)
Time: 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Venue: A723, 7/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Language: English
Abstract:
The legal regulation of hate speech must balance conflicting human rights: Freedom of expression is protected by Article 10 of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, while Article 4 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination entails an obligation to criminalize hate speech. In the lecture, the Strasbourg Court’s approach to this clash between human rights will be outlined, as well as selected judgments on hate speech from the Norwegian Supreme Court. Emphasis is put on describing the current legal situation, but major steps leading up the present situation will also be pinpointed, as they have a decisive impact on the overall balancing between the human rights involved.
About the speaker:
Bjørnar Borvik is Professor of Law at University of Bergen Faculty of Law, where he has taught since 2002 and served as Vice Dean for Education from 2014 to 2017. He received his PhD from University of Bergen in 2008. His research and teaching interests focus on constitutional law and human rights. He currently serves as the Director of Norwegian China Law Centre at the Faculty of Law, and is appointed by the Norwegian Parliament as Vice Chairman of Norwegian Privacy Appeals Board from 2017 to 2020. He has twice been temporarily appointed as Appellate Judge at Court of Appeal for Western Norway.
ALL ARE WELCOME