ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some general observations about the ten clusters of laws/regulations/codes. It outlines civil laws relating to group defamation, and deals with dignitary crimes and torts. In addition, laws against group defamation can be found in press/media law. Defamation provides one possible avenue for lawsuits and class action lawsuits against hate speakers. The chapter discusses the present cluster of law such as the Conventions of the United Nation (UN) and the protocols of the Council of Europe, which is liable to draw the strongest objection that it violates important free speech values such as autonomy, self-realization, and democracy. Thus, laws or regulations that create buffer zones around funerals apply equally to people who wish to mount counterprotests against picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church. Finally, in the United States (US), some victims of racist hate speech have successfully sued for damages using the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
