by Andrej Trajkovski

Created on: July 30, 2010   Last Updated: August 01, 2010

The right to freedom of speech is part of the political freedoms corpus and as other political freedoms it is a reflection of the political constituting of the society and active thought essence of humanity. They are also part of the political being of an individual as an active political factor in one country. It is also one of the basic human rights in the modern society.

It means that each individual has a right, under same conditions as everyone else, to publicly express his own views and thoughts on any subject. This right can be used in any place that`s suitable for that or it can be used in the media, not just by words but in every possible way of expression (non verbal expression: presentation with pictures, drawing of caricatures, performing pantomime etc.)

The right to freedom of speech is basically unlimited, but that does not mean that it is allowed to be abused. It can be practiced as far as it does not conflict other rights. Typical case of abuse of this right is the so-called - Hate speech. Hate speech is kind of speech that can incite violence because it intimidates a certain group of people (usually the target are groups of people based on their nationality, race,social status etc.) The right to freedom of speech can be limited in strict cases (usually described in the Constitution). This right also means that one does not have obligation to inform any state institution or to seek permit from the government or other state institutions to publicly express his views. 

The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. It is also part of other regional human rights declarations such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Article 9), the American Convention on Human Rights (Article 13) and the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 10).

This right should not be confused with the concept of freedom of thought which is is the freedom of one person to hold a fact, a view or thought independent of others` views.

Freedom of information is an extension of freedom of speech.

This right is essential for a true democratic society and its limitation or ban is typical of undemocratic, totalitarian societies.

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