CRIMINALIZATION OF INCITEMENT TO TERRORISM IN LITHUANIA, GERMANY AND FRANCE

Abstract

The growing threat of terrorism raises the question of punishing not only the perpetrators of terrorist acts, but also the instigators. This article presents a comparative analysis of criminal legislation on incitement to terrorism and its enforcement in three jurisdictions: Lithuania, Germany and France. The aim of the work is to enrich the theoretical analysis of legislation on countering incitement to terrorism, with the possibility of applying theoretical results in practice by the legislator and law enforcement. The objectives of the research are to analyse the approaches used by jurisdictions to prohibit incitement to terrorism, how exactly this legislation is applied, what problems law enforcement faces, and to formulate recommendations for solving them. The main research methods are the formal-legal method, as well as comparative legal methods. In conclusion, it can be noted that both Lithuania and France establish a special ban on incitement to terrorism (using different wording). However, while in Lithuania the article on incitement to terrorism is not applied in practice, in France it is actively applied and becomes the subject of criticism for excessive criminalisation of speech. At the same time, in Germany there is only a general ban on incitement to crime.

 Keywords: Incitement to terrorism, Terrorism, Criminal law, Freedom of expression, Apology for terrorism.