HATE SPEECH EXPRESSED BY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT: THE DILEMMA AND KEY FOR ITS RESOLUTION

Hate speech is a highly topical and a controversial legal phenomenon. The paper outlines the definition of hate speech and its constituent elements, propounds the threshold test in order to gauge the magnitude and latitude of relevant forms of expression, identifies root causes and effects of hate speech uttered by members of parliament and conditions conducive to the creation of intolerance in the light of Georgia’s context. It finds the key how to strike a fair balance between the wide freedom of expression of members of parliament and freedom from hate speech and shows in which direction should or should not be oriented vectors of the freedom of expression of members of parliament. As a result, the concrete recommendations are designed to give impetus, inter alia, to the Parliament of Georgia to elaborate an effective regulatory legal mechanism dealing with the elimination of all scourges of hate speech from the “public dictionary” of members of parliament.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Hate Speech, Parliamentary Immunity, Freedom of Expression, Intolerance

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