Lehideux and Isorni v. France

Lehideux and Isorni v. France (case no. 55/1997/839/1045, application no. 24662/94, Publication 1998-VII, no. 92, was a case heard by the European Court of Human Rights on whether a person had the right under the free speech granted under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights to undermine or threaten other rights granted under other articles of the convention. In a judgement handed down 23 September 1998 the court ruled that the protections in Article 17, the prohibition of abuse of rights, did restrict the right of free speech granted under Article 10.

This ruling has had a direct influence on International treaty law. The "Additional Protocol to the Convention on cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems" requires participating States to criminalize the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems, as well as of racist and xenophobic-motivated threats and insultsref|APCoc_faq. Article 8, Section 1 of the protocol specifically covers the denial of the Holocaust and other genocides recognised as such by other international courts set up since 1945 by relevant international legal instruments. The Council of Europe "Explanatory Report" of the protocol states "European Court of Human Rights has made it clear that the denial or revision of “clearly established historical facts – such as the Holocaust – […] would be removed from the protection of Article 10 by Article 17” of the ECHR (see in this context the Lehideux and Isorni judgment of 23 September 1998)"ref|APCoc_ER.

References

* [http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=696122&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649 Judgment]
* [http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/0/2eb5afd8f89c9af6c12566900036cbf5?OpenDocument ECHR : Lehideux and Isorni v. France Publication : 1998-VII, no. 92] on the website of Netherlands Institute of Human Rights faculty of Law

Notes

# [http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/COEFAQs.htm#topicE Frequently asked questions and answers Council of Europe Convention on cybercrime] by the United States Department of Justice
# [http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Reports/Html/189.htm Explanatory Report on the additional protocol to the convention on cybercrime]