ABSTRACT
Part 2 covers a number of aspects of expression, including political expression in the form of public protest, and pornographic expression. It also covers access to official information since, without such access, some expression will be curbed or cannot occur at all. This introduction considers the justifications underlying the legal protection offered to freedom of expression, their recognition in the Strasbourg and domestic jurisprudence and the implications of the justifications for the legal restrictions on expression. The chapters contained in Part 2 consider the restrictions domestic law places on expression-the traditional starting point for discussion of expression in the UK-but then they go on to consider the impact of the Human Rights Act on those restrictions. In so doing, it will take account of the discussion, in Chapter 2, of the freedom of expression guarantee under Art 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and of a number of the other aspects of the Strasbourg jurisprudence. The main focus of these chapters will be on the changes that are likely to occur in the protection for expression under the Human Rights Act as the Strasbourg jurisprudence permeates this area of law. This Part is concerned with expression, since that is the term used in Art 10-a wider term than speech: Art 10 protects expression which could only very doubtfully be termed speech. However, where the expression in question consists of speech, that term will be used.
