France: Genocide Law Overturned

As reported by TRT on 28 February, the French Constitutional Council decreed that the draft bill regarding the criminalization of the denial of genocide was contrary to the constitution.

The council has not announced an official decision yet. However, the deputies of the French parliament who applied to the council said that the law was overturned.

After the National Assembly and the Senate of France approved the draft bill, 64 deputies and 77 senators signed it and sent the draft to the Constitutional Council. The council then revoked the decision.

The Constitutional Council is comprised of eleven members and chaired by former President of Parliament Jean Louis Debre. The session related to the draft law was attended by seven members.

Council members Hubert Haenel and Jacqueline de Guillenschmidt had previously announced their dissenting views on the bill. They refrained from voting as well as former President Jacques Chirac who suffers from memory loss and furthermore received a judicial fine lately.

The council members examined the law both formally and in terms of contents.

French deputies and senators had applied to the council because they deemed the draft bill "contrary to freedom of expression" as enshrined in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 34 of the French Constitution.

Another try?

Yet, President Nicolas Sarkozy had stated before, "If the draft bill is overturned by the French Constitution I will release a new one".

The bill was supported by Sarkozy and passed through parliament and the senate in December and January respectively. The draft law anticipated imprisonment of up to one year and a monetary fine of € 45,000 for the denial of genocide. (IC/VK)