Boyer Archives

The Parliament’s Committee on Laws spoke Tuesday a bill of Valerie Boyer, MP for Bouches-du-Rhône, to criminalize Holocaust denial, including that of the Armenian genocide. This text, written with Maître Bernard Jouanneau and recorded October 14 2014, could be presented in December at the National Assembly, as part of a parliamentary niche group “Republicans”.
The aim of the reform is to propose a new offense that is no longer treated as an abuse of freedom of expression, but as an offense that falls in line with international laws and conventions that criminalize genocide and all crimes against humanity, “the lawyer wrote in a scholarly article published in légipress. It is therefore out of the denial of the repression under the press law “
The bill, to be submitted to the vote of Parliament shortly, comes a few weeks after the ECHR judgment Perincek, the findings allow the principle of repression of denial of the Armenian genocide, thus opening a path for legislation to that effect in France.
The government bill promised by the state leader could also take advantage of this opening. But it remains for now in the making.

The text of the bill presented by Valérie Boyer:

LAW PROPOSITION

Article

It is inserted into the Criminal Code as a result of articles 211-1 and 212-2 and 213-6 following an article as follows: “The systematic contestation, negation of principle, commoditization, trivialisation, and attempted Justification of crimes against humanity and genocide of the twentieth century as defined by Article 211-1 and 212-2 of the Criminal Code and / or the Statute of the International Criminal Court, are punishable five years imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine, provided:
1) it to pass through arguments or allegations involving the falsification of evidence and documents, ignorance or shelved or rejection of evidence, events or opinions membership meeting of qualified or informed enough for the sake of accurate information to prohibit ignore them, or to call into question the classification by jurists of international institutions, or to denaturation collected clues or evidence, or lack of any response or loyal attempted refutation of existing evidence and opinions of experts and historians;
2) that these crimes have been recognized:

either by the State and / or people who are blamed,
or by an international Convention that France and the States in question have signed and ratified,

or by a body or international institution to which France would stick,

or by the laws of a significant number of countries representing at least one-twelfth of the countries of the United Nations,

or by a court order issued by a competent national court or an international court established by an international agreement,

or, failing that, by a commission of experts appointed by the investigating judge of the complaint comprising two historians, two lawyers and an international official who would be able to appoint all knowing of their choice;
3) that the acts were committed in public by the means provided by Article 23 of the Law of 29 July 1881. “

Article 2

The facts object of the prosecution or complaint shall be deemed committed in bad faith, inspired by hostility or hatred towards a group of victims of these crimes and deemed to infringe on the dignity of these people or that of their ancestors or descendants. They could, however, benefit from freeing them under Article 122-4 of the Criminal Code, if it is established that they proceed discoveries or historical research in the state, are the freedom of expression and freedom of opinion laid down in Articles 6, 10 and 11 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789, by Article 34 of the Constitution as well as Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.

Article 3

The systematic contestation, negation of principle, commoditization, trivialisation, and the attempt to justify crimes against humanity and genocide of the twentieth century as defined by Article 211-1 and 212-2 of the Penal Code and / or the Statute of the International Criminal Court, are common crimes, subject to the requirement of Article 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Public action concerning these offenses is governed by the provisions of Book I of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the exception of those committed before the coming into force of these new provisions that remain governed by the law of 29 July 1881 on the basis of Article 24a.

Article 4

The Tribunal may also order:

1) the posting or publication of the decision in accordance with Article 131-35 of the Penal Code;

2) the total or partial forfeiture of civic, according to the provisions of Article 131-26 of the Penal Code and disqualification to hold public office.

Article 5

Article 2-4 of the Criminal Procedure Code is supplemented by a paragraph 2 reads:
“Any association lawfully registered for at least five years at the time of commission of the offense, which offers its statutes to combat crimes against humanity and / or genocide, and to keep the memory of these crimes may exercise the rights granted to the civil party in respect of the offense established by Article 213-6 of the Criminal Code. “

At a time when we are preparing to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian genocide, there is no law still allows France to punish denial of genocide and crimes against humanity, with the exception of the Holocaust. While two genocides are officially recognized by France, the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide of 1915 (recognized by the law of 29 January 2001), only the denial of the Holocaust is that sanctioned by the Gayssot day, thus creating competition briefs. This unjust situation must end, both for the criminalization of the denial of the genocide of 1915 than for the other genocides that wish to recognize France.

I already had in 2011 proposed a law along the lines of EU law on the fight against racism and repression of genocide recognized by French law with which the Armenian genocide. The bill was adopted by all groups in the National Assembly and the Senate on January 23 2012 Unfortunately, it was the subject of censorship of the Constitutional Council, on the grounds that the denial part of freedom of expression, ending the attempted criminalization of Holocaust denial.

Yet the opportunity to punish denial of all genocides and crimes against humanity echoes a burning issue in the context of persecution against Eastern Christians in Iraq in particular, described by Ban Ki-Moon of crimes against humanity.

It is necessary and urgent to legislate to propose a new classification of denial. I’m so used to working to draft an alternative and innovative version, the fruit of reflection that I conducted with leading lawyers criminal lawyers. That is why I propose that denial is no longer considered by the law as a simple abuse of freedom of expression, but as a crime against humanity.

This has two advantages: exit the opposite by the Constitutional Council on freedom of expression and protection of all genocides recognized by our law legal impasse.

This is a legislative enriched that I suggest to co-signed by my colleagues, a nonpartisan law to the public interest that overcomes the partisan considerations. This text is intended to be universal because it protects all genocides recognized by French law and is in compliance with Human Rights. This law will soon be available on the website of the National Assembly and wish consideration intervene soon because this cause is close to my heart but it is especially critical to our commitment and our law.