Freedom of Speech in International Law

Freedom of Speech in International Law charts the minimum protections for speech enshrined in international human rights law. It clarifies what the right to freedom of expression means under international law, identifies conflicts between law and state practice, and provides key recommendations as to how international standards should be interpreted, updated, and enforced.

Each of the book’s six chapters focusses on an area of the law that is being weaponized to silence the press or curtail freedom of expression. Chapters focus on insulting speech (including defamation and sedition laws), false speech (through misinformation or disinformation laws), hate speech, and speech affecting national security (in form of espionage/official secrets laws and terrorism laws). Each chapter outlines relevant state practice, identifies the conflicts that exist in international human rights law, and highlights areas for reform. Examples throughout the book demonstrate the legislative tools relied on by states to quash dissent - not just sedition, treason, and criminal insult laws that have traditionally targeted speech but, increasingly, terrorism, ’false news’, and other vague laws to protect themselves against unflattering press. Recommendations at the end of each chapter aim to bridge the gap between practice and the legal obligations of both states and social media companies that have expressed voluntary adherence to the same standards.

These recommendations build on existing standards, and have been endorsed by an esteemed group of experts from across the world, including the Media Freedom Coalition’s High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom.

Amal Clooney, Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers, David Neuberger, Judge and Barrister, One Essex Court

Amal Clooney is a leading human rights lawyer who has spent the past two decades defending victims of injustice around the world. She has secured victories in landmark human rights cases and won numerous awards for her work in freeing detained journalists around the globe. Ms Clooney is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School and co-author of The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law (OUP: 2020), which won the top publishing award at the American Society of International Law 2022 book awards. In 2016 she and her husband George Clooney co-founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which has a mission to ’wage justice’ for human rights abuses around the world and now operates in over 40 countries.

Lord David Neuberger served two decades as a barrister before being appointed as a Judge in 1996 where he then became President of the UK Supreme Court from 2012 to 2017. He has decided cases involving some of the most significant human rights and constitutional law issues and has written and spoken extensively on free speech and privacy issues. He has sat as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, and a Judge in Singapore. He is President of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and the Chair of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, an independent advisory body composed of leading experts in international law established at the request of the international Media Freedom Coalition.