The government’s so-called “Democratic Action Plan” announced on Tuesday includes a battery of measures aimed at “regenerating” democracy, among them the decriminalization of the crimes of insults and slander against the king, a question that invites us to review How do other countries penalize? This type of action against their presidents of government, heads of state or national symbols is important.
United States: It is legal to burn flags
In the United States, convictions for insulting the president, other leaders, or institutions are not common because of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which aggressively guarantees the right to free speech. This is due to the republican and anti-monarchist nature of the nation’s founding fathers.
There are two important limitations to this protection. Defamation of public office is considered a crime if actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth is shown, but the case law is generally very restrictive and few cases are successful. On the other hand, threats or incitements to violence are not protected by the First Amendment and this offense can carry serious legal consequences, but it must be proven that some speech has the immediate and necessary effect of provoking violence, which is difficult.
It is legal to burn a flag, and in fact several were burned at the anti-Netanyahu protest this week. Attacking symbols of the state is considered a form of constitutionally protected freedom of speech.
France: a nuanced crime since 1881
In France, crimes of misdemeanor and insults against the head of state began to be qualified in 1881. This legislation has been nuanced several times, according to the estimates of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), based in Paris. of Strasbourg. Now allow the President of the Republic to defend his honor thus:
– Defamation of the president, ministers or authorities can be punished with fines of up to 45,000 euros.
– Insults, considered a common law offence, can be punished by fines of up to 12,000 euros.
– Insults “towards a person holding public authority”, from the head of state to a minister or senior representative of the law, can be punished by one year in prison and 15,000 euros.
Since 2017, Macron has tried to defend himself on several occasions. During the yellow vest crisis, three protesters were persecuted for a simulation of a “public execution” and were acquitted. During Covid, a citizen compared Macron to Hitler. He paid 10,000 euros. During the pension crisis, a protester trampled on a figurine of the head of state and was detained for several hours, before being released without charge.
UK: No laws against insulting the Crown
In the world’s most recognized monarchy, there are no specific laws against insults and slander against the Crown or attacks on state symbols. However, several legal frameworks indirectly address these issues.
The Defamation Act 2013 covers libel and slander and requires plaintiffs to prove that the defamatory statement has caused or is likely to cause “serious harm” to their reputation. While the law can be applied in cases where the Crown is insulted, there is no special protection for the Royal Family and they are unlikely to act as plaintiffs.
Although there are no specific laws prohibiting insults to the Crown or attacks on state symbols, there are mechanisms to indirectly combat these actions through other laws.
Acts such as flag burning are not specifically prohibited. This case is special: the UK protects the right to damage the flag under freedom of speech laws, although there have been several attempts over the years to ban it.
Germany: Up to five years for denigrating the president
The German Criminal Code states in its Article 90 that “any person who denigrates the Federal President publicly, during a meeting or by disseminating content will be punished by a prison sentence of three months to five years.”
In less serious cases, the law provides for the possibility of reducing the sentence, but the legal text specifies that “the penalty will be imprisonment of six months to five years if the offence constitutes defamation (Article 187 of the Criminal Code) or if the offender promotes “intentional attacks on the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany or on constitutional principles by means of crime”. A special feature is that the courts can only prosecute this crime if the president authorises it.
Burning flags, both those of Germany and those of any Bundesländer, constitutes a crime of denigration of the state and its symbols. Since 2020, publicly burning or damaging foreign flags, as well as flags that resemble any other, has also been punishable, following a conviction for repeatedly burning Israeli flags during pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
