ABSTRACT
Freedom of expression is widely regarded as one of the most significant human rights. For example, in the US the first amendment to the constitution provides: ‘Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.’ The justifications for according this particular freedom such significance have been much debated. One of the most significant is that citizens cannot participate fully in a democracy unless they have a reasonable understanding of political issues; therefore, open debate on such matters is essential. In Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers [1993] AC 534, Lord Keith, in holding that neither local nor central government could sustain an action in defamation, said: ‘It is of the highest importance that a democratically elected governmental body…should be open to uninhibited public criticism.’ Barendt considers that this theory is ‘probably the most attractive…of the free speech theories in modern Western democracies’, and concludes that ‘it has been the most influential theory in the development of 20th century free speech law’.1 Eric Barendt also accepts the validity of the thesis that freedom of speech is necessary to enable individual selffulfilment.2 It is argued that individuals will not be able to develop morally and intellectually unless they are free to air views and ideas in debate with each other.
