The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published new legal guidance on freedom of expression. The EHRC highlight that following the recent tragic deaths in Paris, there has been considerable debate about free speech. The new guidance aims to help address ‘muddle and misunderstanding’ around specific areas of Britain’s laws on freedom of expression. It explains there are legitimate ways the state restrains what we can say but the test for curtailing freedom of expression in law is a stringent one, and much that is offensive is still legal.

Freedom of expression can however be restricted in certain circumstances, e.g. where it incites violence against others or promotes hatred based on the colour of someone’s skin or their sexual orientation or their religion. The guidance should be considered carefully by employers, particularly in view of the Rubins v Latvia case reported in the last News Update, where a majority of the European Court of Human Rights held that the dismissal of a university professor for sending emails criticising management was an unjustified interference with his right to freedom of expression.

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