Details
- First book to deal extensively with the issue of genocide denial and the law
- Provides readers with a complete international perspective by including contributions from authors in the United States, Canada, Italy, Belgium, France, and Ireland
- Tackles the diverse topic comprehensively by addressing not only the theoretical and philosophical aspects of denial, but also the specific problems faced by the judges themselves
- Examines controversial legal issues involving the intersection of law, history, and memory
In Genocide Denials and the Law, Ludovic Hennebel and Thomas Hochmann offer a thorough study of the relationship between law and genocide denial from the perspectives of specialists from six countries. This controversial topic provokes strong international reactions involving emotion caused by denial along with concerns about freedom of speech.
The authors offer an in-depth study of the various legal issues raised by the denial of crimes against humanity, presenting arguments both in favor of and in opposition to prohibition of this expression. They do not adopt a pro or contra position, but include chapters written by proponents and opponents of a legal prohibition on genocide denial.
Hennebel and Hochmann fill a void in academic publications by comparatively examining this issue with a collection of original essays. They tackle this diverse topic comprehensively, addressing not only the theoretical and philosophical aspects of denial, but also the specific problems faced by judges who implement anti-denial laws. Genocide Denials and the Law will provoke discussion of many theoretical questions regarding free speech, including the relationship between freedom of expression and truth, hate, memory, and history.
Readership: Students and academics (in the fields of history, human rights, legal philosophy, Holocaust studies, Jewish studies, political science, First Amendment rights, criminal law, comparative Constitutional law). Wide audience concerned with genocide denial and freedom of speech.
1: Chapter 1: Law's Holocaust: State, Memory, Legality
Prof. David Fraser (University of Nottingham)
2: Chapter 2: From Trying the Perpetrator to Trying the Denier and Back Again
Prof. Lawrence Douglas (Amherst College)
3: Chapter 3: Holocaust Denial and Hate Speech
Prof. Robert A. Kahn (University of St Thomas)
4: Chapter 4: Defending Truth: Holocaust Denial in the Twenty-First Century
Prof. Kenneth Lasson (University of Baltimore)
5: Chapter 5: The Criminal Protection of Memory: Some Observations about the Offense of Holocaust Denial Prof. Emanuela Fronza (University of Trento, Italy)
6: Chapter 6: The Law of Holocaust Denial in Europe: Towards a (qualified) EU-wide Criminal Prohibition Dr. Laurent Pech (National University of Ireland
7: Chapter 7: Denial of the Holocaust, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: A Comparative Overview of Ad Hoc Statutes
Martin Imbleau (Montréal)
8: Chapter 8: The Denier's Intent
Thomas Hochmann (University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Ludovic Hennebel is a Research Fellow at the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium) and member of the Perelman Centre of Legal Philosophy of the Law School of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles where he holds lectureship in human rights and legal theory. Ludovic Hennebel is the Executive and Faculty Director of the Magna Carta Institute, an independent research institute based in Brussels, specialized in global justice, human rights and international law. He is also a Global Fellow at the Law School of New York University, visiting professor at SciencesPo Paris where he teaches transnational law, human rights and Global Justice, and a member of the Alumni College of the Royal Belgian Academy.
He holds a PhD in Law, a LL.M in international human rights law, a MA and a BA in Law, and the Rene Cassin's Diploma on international human rights law. His research focuses on international law, international human rights law, transnational and global law. He has published extensively on international human rights law (including two monographs in 2007 regarding the American Convention on Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee, both in French with Bruylant Publisher) and is the co-editor of several collections of essays on Judging terrorism and the rule of law (2009, Bruylant), on the American Convention on Human Rights (2009, Pedone), on American Exceptionalism and Human Rights (2009, Dalloz), and on Classifying Human Rights (2004, Bruylant).
Thomas Hochmann is Research Fellow at the University of Paris Pantheon Sorbonne where he taught public law. He holds a Master's degree in public comparative law and writes a PhD on freedom of expression and holocaust denial in comparative law, supervised by Professor Otto Pfersmann. He won several awards for this research, including a scholarship from the Fondation pour la Memoire de la Shoah (2006) and the prize of the City of Paris for research on antisemitism and xenophobia (2010).
Thomas Hochmann is affiliated with the Centre Marc Bloch (French-German Research Center for Social Sciences) in Berlin and was a visiting scholar at the Universities of Regensburg and Freiburg in Germany. He is the author of a number of publications on human rights, freedom of speech and comparative constitutional law in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. He is in charge of a biannual commentary on the case-law of the Supreme Court of the United States for the prestigious Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme (Quarterly Review on Human Rights).
"Few issues, even in the heavily contested realm of human rights, raise quite such complex and foundational questions as laws prohibiting the denial of genocide. This volume provides a fascinating array of insights into both how necessary and how fraught such laws are."
-- Philip G. Alston
John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
