INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON HATE SPEECH

The purpose of this paper is to present the existing international standards concerning national legislation regulating hate speech, focusing particularly on the instruments of the Council of Europe. Namely, Council of Europe’s Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 on combating hate speech and the “General Policy Recommendation No. 15 on Combating Hate Speech” by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) elaborate in detail on the conditions necessary to fulfill the provisions of hate speech in the areas of criminal, civil, and administrative law, in accordance with international human rights standards. Due to their particular importance for the national contexts, a summary of these instruments will be provided.