About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

30 J. Ethiopian L. 27 (2018)
Making Space for Non-Liberal Constitutionalism in Free Speech: Lessons from a Comparative Study of the State of Free Speech in Ethiopia and Thailand

handle is hein.journals/jethiol30 and id is 37 raw text is: Making Space for Non-Liberal Constitutionalism in Free Speech: Lessons from a Comparative Study of the State of Free Speech in Ethiopia and Thailandt Mesenbet A ssefa (PhD) * Abstract Just as Bruce Ackerman posited the rise of constitutional democracies in the world, Fareed Zakaria outlined a chilling aspect of it in the name of the parallel rise of illiberal democracies. The rise of illiberalism in emerging democracies can best be demonstrated in their draconic stance on free speech. In particular, in States such as Ethiopia and Thailand, the protection afforded to freedom of expression is markedly different from the protection offreedom of expression in liberal societies. Both Thailand and Ethiopia formally embrace liberal constitutional norms including freedom of speech. Nevertheless, both States continue to fall far behind in terms of the protection afforded to political speech in liberal democracies. Although the manifestations of the illiberal impulses in these States may vary, they demonstrate functional equivalence in terms of the similarities of how they respond to speech related offences. Despite these illiberal tendencies, however, there is also an interesting normatively appealing constitutional structure of these polities. The basic and underlying ideals of their normative constitutional architecture rest on a non-liberal model of constitutionalism which is distinct from the liberal model of constitutionalism. Both Ethiopia and Thailand provide interesting comparative study of free speech in non-liberal polities. The independent existence of both States and their distinctive historical contingencies help to illuminate the embedded socio-political, historical and ideological factors that inform their stance on free speech. This article argues that a non-liberal constitutionalism in free speech can be defended taking into account the various historical contingencies and political realities of both states. However, the article posits that this normative constitutional architecture has to be compatible with common principles of free speech norms drawn from international and comparative law. By doing so, it tries to explain discourses in non-liberal constitutionalism and the various historical and socio-political factors that drive such normative constitutional architecture. Key terms: Free Speech, Non-Liberal Constitution, Lise-majesti, Ethiopia, Thailand This article was first presented at the Yale Freedom of Expression Scholars Conference at Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut, the United States (30 April 2016). It was an honour to have in my audience the distinguished First Amendment scholar and advocate Floyd Abrams. I am particularly grateful to Prof Thomas Healy of Seton Hall Law School who served as reader for my paper and provided invaluable comments to the initial draft of this article. I would also like to extend my profound thanks to Prof Michael O'Flaherty, General Director of EU Agency for Fundamental Rights and Former Director of Irish Centre for Human Rights who initially inspired me to work on this interesting project and financed a field research to Thailand in 2015. Mesenbet Assefa, Asst. Professor of Law, Addis Ababa University School of Law (the author can be reached at <mesenbet.assefagaau.edu.et> or <tsehay2000ggmail.com>).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most