Global Freedom of Expression Freedom of Expression

Transcript:Global Freedom of Expression Freedom of Expression:
Global Freedom of Expression Freedom of Expression as Fundamental Right Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. -John Milton, Areopagitica, 1644 The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may therefore speak, write, and print freely, if he accepts his own responsibility for any abuse of this liberty in the cases set by the law. -The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, Article 11, 1789 Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom. - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo, Palko v. Connecticut, 1937 Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and… the touchstone of all of the freedoms to which the UN is consecrated. - UN General Assembly, Res. 59(1), 1946 The Value of freedom of expression The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, Mark Giva Chavunduka and another v. The Minister of Home Affairs and another, Supreme Court Civil Application No. 156 (1999). “Freedom of expression has four broad special objectives to serve: (i) It helps an individual to obtain self-fulfillment, (ii) It assists in the discovery of truth and in promoting political and social participation, (iii) It strengthens the capacity of an individual to participate in decision making, and (iv) It provides a mechanism by which it would be possible to establish a reasonable balance between stability and change.” Source: http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/human_rights_basics Establishment of UN Human Rights System Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) ARTICLE 19 1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. 3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject