Speech on Trial – Why Criminal Defamation Still Haunts Modern Democracies?

October 6, 2025

By editor.lgsee In: AI podcasts (experimental) Region: SEE Region

Print |

Disclaimer: These podcasts are generated by AI based on article texts. The voices are computer-generated, and the editors and this blog cannot warrant the accuracy, quality, or reliability of the content. Please treat them as experimental and verify any information with trusted sources.

This podcast episode delves into the global movement advocating for the abolition of criminal defamation and insult laws — remnants of pre-democratic legal traditions that continue to shadow freedom of expression. Tracing their lineage from the Roman Empire through the English Star Chamber, we explore why (and did they even) these laws are now regarded as fundamentally incompatible with modern democratic principles and international human rights standards.

Drawing on insights from scholars and institutions worldwide, the podcast examines the chilling effect these statutes impose on free speech. As Jane E. Kirtley aptly terms them, criminal defamation laws often function as “Instruments of Destruction” for press freedom — deterring journalists, academics, and citizens from engaging in open criticism or public debate.

We investigate how such laws are routinely misused by political elites and powerful entities to silence dissent through strategic litigation and financial intimidation. Excessive penalties and protracted trials have replaced overt censorship with subtler, yet equally corrosive, forms of control, pushing independent media to self-censor or face ruin.

A particular emphasis is placed on the urgent call to repeal “insult laws,” which afford unjustified protection to public officials and heads of state. Deemed relics of monarchic privilege, these provisions are antithetical to democratic accountability and transparency.

Ultimately, we highlight the emerging international consensus — echoed by the OSCE, Council of Europe, and United Nations — that imprisonment for defamation is never justifiable. The path forward lies in full decriminalization, replacing punitive sanctions with proportionate civil remedies such as corrections, apologies, and the right of reply. Only by doing so can societies reconcile the protection of individual reputation with the indispensable role of a free press as the watchdog of democracy.

Listen to the full episode here.

Sources used in this episode:

Andon Majhošev, A., & Mirkovski, G. (2017). Freedom of Expression and Decriminalization of the Defamation in the Republic of Macedonia. Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, 5(3), 106–113.

Arbel, Y. A., & Mungan, M. (2019). The Case against Expanding Defamation Law. Alabama Law Review, 71(2), 453–496.

Ardia, D. S. (2013). Freedom of Speech, Defamation, and Injunctions. William & Mary Law Review, 55(1), 1–90.

ARTICLE 19. (2017). Defining Defamation: Principles on Freedom of Expression and Protection of Reputation. ARTICLE 19.

Burman, A. (n.d.). How Should We Think About Reforming Criminal Defamation? In Ideas and Institutions Issue #28. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Docherty, B. (2000). Defamation Law: Positive Jurisprudence. Harvard Human Rights Journal, 13, 263–288.

Holt, L., Nica, R., & Carrillo, A. J. (2022, March 19). Decriminalizing Defamation: A Comparative Law Study. GW Law Civil and Human Rights Law Clinic / International Law and Policy Brief.

Hoctor, S. (2013). The crime of defamation: Still defensible in a modern constitutional democracy? Obiter, 34, 125–131.

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). (2024). A Human Rights-Based Approach to Criminal Law, Including the Decriminalization of Conduct Associated with Poverty and Status: A Practitioners’ Guide.

Karlsreiter, A., & Vuokko, H. (Eds.). (2004). Ending the Chilling Effect: Working to Repeal Criminal Libel and Insult Laws: Proceedings of the Round Table “What Can Be Done to Decriminalize Libel and Repeal Insult Laws” Paris, 24-25 November 2003. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Office of the Representative on Freedom of the Media.

Kirtley, J. E., & Carmody, C. (n.d.). Criminal Defamation: Still “An Instrument of Destruction” in the Age of Fake News. Journal of International Media & Entertainment Law, 8(2), 163–218.

Media Defence. (2024). Module 7: Defamation and Reputation (Modules on Digital Rights and Freedom of Expression Online in Europe).

‘Nyane, H. (2019). Abolition of criminal defamation and retention of scandalum magnatum in Lesotho. African Human Rights Law Journal, 19(2), 743–762.

Richter, A. (2024). Decriminalization of Defamation in the Context of Free Speech: A European Perspective. Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).

Tagged as