The Social Character of Freedom of Expression

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Colin Farrelly
Keyword(s):  
Private Property ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
General Structure ◽  
Constitutional Protection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Political Ideal ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Constitutional Adjudication

Richard Moon’s The Constitutional Protection of Freedom of Expression is an insightful and comprehensive study of the right to freedom of expression in Canadian constitutional law. Moon begins by stressing the importance of the distinction between freedom of expression as a moral or political ideal and as a constitutional right. The former certainly informs the latter. But the general structure of constitutional adjudication will also play an important role in determining how these issues are resolved and this may, in turn, influence our understanding of the right as a moral and political ideal. Moon focuses on the most important Canadian freedom of expression decisions which cover a wide range of topics from the regulation of racist expression and pornography to access to state and private property.

scholarly journals RIGHT TO INFORMATION: COMMUNICATIVE FREEDOM, SCOPE OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION, GROUNDS FOR RESTRICTIONS

2021 ◽  
pp. 44-49
Author(s):  
M. Kravchenko
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Constitutional Protection ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Right To Information ◽  
The Right ◽  
Structural Methods

The article is devoted to determining the place of the right to information in the system of communicative freedoms, specifying the scope of constitutional protection and clarifying the criteria for its restriction. During the research a wide range of general scientific and special-legal methods of scientific knowledge was used, in particular: logical, historical, comparative-legal and system-structural methods of research. The analysis of domestic and German legal literature on the right to information was important for achieving the goal of the study. The study of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany devoted to the interpretation of this fundamental human right was of particular cognitive importance. As a result of the study, the author states that the right to information belongs to the system of communicative freedoms. As a separate communicative freedom, it actively interacts with other freedoms, such as freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of cinema, and so on. At the same time, the right to information is subordinated to the general goal of communicative freedoms – to be an instrument of communication of an individual with society, a real opportunity to express and convey his views, beliefs and opinions to other individuals. The right to information protects access to public information not by a particular group of individuals, but by the corresponding right of each individual. In addition, this right should not be construed as a right to restrict access to certain information. Given this, the scope of protection of the right to information is to protect the right of everyone to access information that is in publicly available sources of information. Such information is the source for forming the views and beliefs of individuals. The appropriate approach should be reflected in the following interpretative acts of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the interpretation of the right to information. This fundamental human right may be restricted. However, such interference in the exercise of this right of individuals should not turn into its complete leveling, turning it into fiction. Therefore, along with the purely normative grounds for restricting the right to information, additional criteria are defined according to which each individual case of restriction of this right of individuals must be assessed. Keywords: information, communication freedom, human rights, sphere of protection, restriction of human rights

The Contemporary Reception of St Thomas on Law and Politics

2021 ◽  
pp. 611-625
Author(s):  
Michael Pakaluk
Keyword(s):  
Private Property ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Political Society ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Right

The reception of Thomistic political and legal philosophy is considered with respect to what is called ‘political liberalism’. The appeal to a hypothetical state of nature should be rejected, as it misconstrues the social nature of human beings. Aquinas’ account of the origin of political society starts from an interpretation of human nature. On this basis one can account for human rights, the importance of the right to religious liberty, the family as the basic cell of society, civil society as including subsidiary authorities, the importance of private property, and the nature and role of freedom. A key question for the continued flourishing of a free society is what practically enables persons to govern for the genuine good of others.

Deferring Citizens' “Right to Know” in an Information Age

2019 ◽  
pp. 264-286
Author(s):  
William Edward Heuva
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Emerging Democracies ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
Policy Frameworks ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Right

Namibia is one of the emerging democracies that have not yet enacted the Access to Information legislation. While the country has guaranteed freedom of expression and media in its constitution, it has not provided for Access to Information as a constitutional right. This chapter seeks to examine Namibia's reluctance to adopt an Access to Information legislation. It interrogates views that locate the omission of this fundamental human right in the country's constitutional (legal) and policy frameworks. It underscores the failure by Namibia to reverse the information black-out suffered under the Apartheid dispensation. The chapter starts with a theoretical/philosophical rationale for the right to know to elicit an understanding of this discourse and its relevance to emerging democracies, such as Namibia. It then examines attempts by state and civil society to introduce the legislation in the country. Predicted on praxis, the chapter in conclusion provides some suggestions that may help resolving the impasse in adopting the Access to Information legislation in the county.

scholarly journals Design and Validation of a Computational Program for Analysing Mental Maps: Aram Mental Map Analyzer

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farshid Aram ◽  
Ebrahim Solgi ◽  
Ester Higueras García ◽  
Danial Mohammadzadeh S. ◽  
Amir Mosavi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Structure ◽  
Numerical Data ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Mental Maps ◽  
Cell Percentage ◽  
Source Program ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mental Map ◽  
Placement Accuracy ◽  
The Right

Considering citizens’ perceptions of their living environment is very helpful in making the right decisions for city planners who intend to build a sustainable society. Mental map analyses are widely used in understanding the level of perception of individuals regarding the surrounding environment. The present study introduces Aram Mental Map Analyzer (AMMA), an open-source program, which allows researchers to use special features and new analytical methods to receive outputs in numerical data and analytical maps with greater accuracy and speed. AMMA performance is contingent upon two principles of accuracy and complexity, the accuracy of the program is measured by Accuracy Placed Landmarks (APL) and General Orientation (GO), which respectively analyses the landmark placement accuracy and the main route mapping accuracy. Also, the complexity section is examined through two analyses Cell Percentage (CP) and General Structure (GS), which calculates the complexity of citizens’ perception of space based on the criteria derived from previous studies. AMMA examines all the dimensions and features of the graphic maps and its outputs have a wide range of valid and differentiated information, which is tailored to the research and information subject matter that is required.

Melloni in Three Acts: From Dialogue to Monologue

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aida Torres Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Constitutional Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
European Arrest Warrant ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Right

On 13 February 2014, the Spanish Constitutional Court came to a final decision regarding the fate of Mr Stefano Melloni. The story of the case is worthy of attention not only from the perspective of the interaction between the Spanish Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), but also from the standpoint of the conflicting levels of rights' protection in Europe. The story of Melloni can be described in three acts: setup, confrontation, and resolution.First, the setup: in 2011, the Spanish Constitutional Court made its first and (so far) only preliminary reference to the CJEU. The Constitutional Court was faced with a collision between the constitutional right to fair trial of persons convicted in absentia and the obligation under EU law to execute a European arrest warrant (heretofore EAW). This setup generated great anticipation, both because of the protagonists and the type of conflict, since in this case what obstructed one member state from complying with EU law was its higher level of constitutional protection for the right in question.

Legal basis of the mechanism of implementation of the constitutional right to social security in the Russian Federation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Павел Байматов ◽  
Pavel Baymatov
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Municipal Employees ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Right

The monograph is a study of theoretical and practical problems associated with the implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to social security. It adequately covers the historical and contemporary issues of the right to social security in Russia, studying international experience. The book raises the problem of implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to social security in the Russian Federation in modern conditions, if necessary, reduce the paternalistic role of the state, proposed measures aimed at increasing the role of citizens, identified theses related to the search for the most optimal and effective forms of modernization of the mechanism of realization of the right to social security. The book is addressed to state and municipal employees, deputies of representative bodies of state power and local self-government, researchers, teachers, graduate students, students of Humanities and a wide range of readers.

scholarly journals Any Chance for the Enforceability of the Human Right to Subsistence?

2020 ◽  
pp. 140-162
Author(s):  
Celia Fernández Aller
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
Philosophical Foundations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
The Right

It is not true that the idea of the right to subsistence should not give rise to much controversy. In fact, social rights are not considered as fundamental rights by everyone. The aim of this paper is to analyze whether abstract social rights –and the right to subsistence in particular- should be put in constitutions and laws and if judges should be given powers to interpret them. The philosophical foundations and the content of the right are studied and five great challenges are presented, although the most powerful one is to focus on the social and political enforceability of the fundamental right to subsistence. Assessing the effectiveness of the right to subsistence, and the right to food particularly, is a complex issue. In the legal discourse, the question seems to be only suggested.  Even when the Constitutions expressly recognize this right in some countries, its implementation faces many constraints. The progressive realization of ESC rights requires a complex interaction of policies and programs in a wide range of sectors and institutions.The scientific method used in this work is the legal-sociological method, regarding the understanding of the rules, the lack of them, their effectiveness,  etc.   Several methodological techniques have been used, such as social and legal analysis, legal deduction and induction, description and interdisciplinarity.

Ideas about religious and political threats in Russian political science and philosophy

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
I. Romanova ◽  
◽  
V. Mladenov ◽  
А. Zhukova ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Religious Conflict ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Russian Scientific ◽  
Interaction Processes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Right

The article analyzes the problems of religious threats in the framework of Russian philosophical, theological, sociological, psychological thought. The analysis was carried out based on the provisions of the theory of the social evolution of religion, theory of religious conflict and theory of social adaptation of religion. The results of the analysis showed that the situation of studies of the religious threat within the Russian scientific field is complicated by the active confrontation among authors of publications on this topic. A large group of authors publish works in which they indicate the existence of a threat to national security from all religions that are not considered traditional in Russia. Fulfilling a social order and reflecting their metaphysical beliefs, biased authors classify a wide range of religious groups as dangerous and extremist. On the contrary, another group of researchers publishes materials through which it tries not only to justify the need for scientifically verified research of state-confessional interaction processes, but also to protect the right of believers to exercise the right of religious choice

Personal Autonomy and its Direct Constitutional Limits – a Polish Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Jan Podkowik
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Constitutional Protection ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
Principle Of Proportionality ◽  
The Right ◽  
Normative Content

Abstract The article discusses the concept of personal autonomy as a constitutional fundamental right protected by the Polish Constitution of 1997. Autonomy is not only a constitutional value of an unspecified character but also a right with its own specific normative content. Personal autonomy, also called the right to self-determination, is rooted in natural law. The scope of its constitutional protection is determined and – simultaneously – limited by constitutional standards of an absolute character such as human dignity, non-discrimination, and the like. Autonomy as a constitutional right may be subjected to further restrictions imposed by the legislator in accordance with the principle of proportionality. The legal status of an individual’s right to self determination is thus determined by all the prohibitions and orders resulting directly from the Constitution as well as sub-constitutional statutory provisions which respect the principle of proportionality requirements.

The Right to a Father's Name: A Historical Perspective on State Efforts to Combat the Stigma of Illegitimate Birth in Brazil

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sueann Caulfield
Keyword(s):  
Child Support ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Project Staff ◽  
Illegitimate Birth ◽  
The Social ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Birth Registries

Over the past decade, state agencies throughout Brazil have launched initiatives that aim to defend children's rights to their father's name. These initiatives take the form of discrete programs in different states, all of which seek to identify children who lack a paternal last name—an estimated 10–25 percent of all Brazilian children —in hopes of finding their fathers and encouraging or obligating them to legally recognize their paternity and inscribe their names on the children's birth registries. Project staff also sometimes formalize child support arrangements, although this is not the primary objective. Instead, Responsible Paternity projects (as most of them are known) seek to free children from the social stigma of illegitimate birth, thus protecting their constitutional right to equality and human dignity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document