This ban on insults is a gag on free speech

 
16 May 2012
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

It is a remarkable issue that can unite gay rights groups, the Christian Institute, the National Secular Society and civil liberties organisations, but Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 manages to do just that. This is the provision which bans “insulting words or behaviour”: it has been invoked to suppress an astonishing variety of views, from the student who called a police horse “gay” to Christians or Muslims saying homosexual activity is a sin, or gay rights groups protesting at religiously grounded opposition to homosexuality.

What all these expressions of opinion, frivolous or otherwise, have in common is that someone, somewhere, could consider themselves insulted by them. What they also have in common is that they are expressions of free speech. A coalition of assorted organisations, religious and secular, is now lobbying the Government to amend the Public Order Act to remove the reference to insulting behaviour. It deserves support.

As a society we rightly outlaw speech that incites violence; there is also a case for the ban on abusive speech. But what we should not do is ban insults. To do so is to circumscribe free speech. A great many strongly held opinions or beliefs will offend someone but one person’s insult is another person’s profoundly held conviction. We have no right to be protected against insult. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, launched a consultation last October on the Public Order Act. That consultation closed four months ago but the Government has still not implemented reform. It should do so.

Visible justice

As Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, addresses an international court at The Hague which found him guilty of aiding war crimes, another trial gets under way: that of the Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic. Taylor was associated with appalling atrocities during the conflict in Sierra Leone, including rape and mutilation. Mladic is charged on 11 counts of crimes against humanity during the war in Bosnia, including the systematic killing of more than 7,000 men and boys in Srebrenica and the orchestration of the siege of Sarajevo, in which thousands of civilians died. He is the last major figure involved with the Bosnian war to be brought to justice.

The international tribunals and special courts at the Hague are not above criticism: they are inordinately expensive and their workings far too slow. But they provide closure for the victims of some of the most harrowing conflicts of our time. Taylor’s role in the war in Sierra Leone may have been indirect — the atrocities were carried out by rebel forces in the country — but it was critical. As for General Mladic, his alleged involvement in war crimes was all too direct. Both cases make a salutary point to those military and political leaders who think their crimes will go unpunished: they too may be brought to justice. The victims of war crimes deserve as much.

Call of nature

A century ago, this paper wrote an editorial hailing the founding of the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves by the naturalist Charles Rothschild; today we salute the centenary of the same organisation, now known as the Wildlife Trusts. It was a radical idea then, to identify and protect the best of the UK’s wild places. Today, the 47 Wildlife Trusts, including the truly admirable London Wildlife Trust, are more necessary than ever. In London we too need wild, natural places: the trust conserves those in our midst.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in