Freedom of Expression and Its Limits - 21st Century Legal Library

Author: Wang Feng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: This book primarily studies the legal boundaries of freedom of expression from the perspective of the theory of relative rights. Starting from the boundaries of freedom of expression, it ultimately concludes with the protection of freedom of expression, emphasizing that restricting freedom of expression is merely a means, while safeguarding it is the ultimate goal. The main stance of this paper is that freedom of expression, as a fundamental political right of citizens, is also relative. The boundaries of freedom of expression are the concrete manifestation of its relativity, and these boundaries can only be set by law. The law itself must meet the dual requirements of procedural justice and substantive justice, which are the foundation of the legality and legitimacy of legal restrictions on freedom of expression. In practice, freedom of expression may conflict with the private rights of citizens or with public rights in specific circumstances. Therefore, judicial authorities may impose restrictions on freedom of expression in specific cases based on a balance of interests to protect national interests, public interests, and other concerns. Such restrictions, whether based on statutory provisions or judicial lawmaking, must adhere to legal principles, specifically the constraints of procedural justice and substantive justice. This is the ultimate boundary of the legal limits of freedom of expression. The book consists of a preface and seven chapters. The preface primarily introduces the necessity and significance of the research topic, the current state of domestic and international studies, and the expected goals of the paper. The first chapter introduces the basic theoretical issues of freedom of expression; the second chapter discusses the value of freedom of expression; the third chapter explores the relativity of freedom of expression from the perspectives of democracy, law, and morality, laying a theoretical foundation for the subsequent discussion of the legal boundaries of freedom of expression; the fourth chapter elaborates on the legitimacy of state public power restricting freedom of expression; the fifth chapter discusses the restrictions imposed by state public power on freedom of expression; the sixth chapter explains some principles for restricting freedom of expression; and the seventh chapter attempts to discuss the current state and future development of freedom of expression in China based on the arguments of the previous chapters, concluding the book. The conclusion is also the overall conclusion of the book: freedom of expression is not an absolute right and must be subject to legal restrictions. Legislation must also undergo judicial review to ensure the fairness of the law itself. At the same time, the rule of law in Hefei requires reducing the non-legal operation of power and appropriately decreasing the influence of individual will on policy-making.