The European Court of Human Rights’s work on the hate speech in political parties: Coincidences and contradictions with Spanish jurisprudence

Abstract

In recent years, political parties with a racist and xenophobic speech have increased, in order to attract more votes. Unfortunately, this speech can be considered as a hate speech, that should be criminalized and punished by domestic judicial systems. In the case of Spain, we find an inconsistentjurisprudence because the sacrosanct freedom of expression is often prioritized. Consequently, it is necessary to analyze such internal jurisprudence and to compare it with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. In fact, this international jurisprudence ismuch more consistent and unequivocal. The basic purpose of this comparative analysis is to determine a set of principles that are useful to outline the limits of freedom of expression when political parties launched a hate speech.