QUALIFICATION OF INCITEMENT TO HATRED IN INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL PRACTICE

Abstract

Although the ECHR has repeatedly emphasized the importance of freedom of self-expression in a democratic society, this must be compatible with the right of individuals to be protected from incitement to hatred. Finding a balance between these two very important aspects of protecting human rights is often challenging in Lithuanian court practice. In many cases, Lithuanian court practice interprets statements that incite hatred as unethical expressions of opinion or as insufficiently dangerous to be regarded as criminal, resulting in the authors of these statements remaining unpunished. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to assess Lithuanian court practice; namely, the compliance of the assessment of the risk level of the characteristics of the criminal activity of incitement to hatred – such as the content of statements (or other forms) – with the characteristics and risk level based on the criteria developed in international court practice.