Law Commons^™

"Dignitizing" Free Speech In Israel: The Impact Of The Constitutional Revolution On Free Speech Protection, Guy E. Carmi

Guy E Carmi

This Article examines the changes in the approach to the analysis of free speech rights in Israel. It demonstrates the growing shift from the American liberty-based influence in the 1980s to a more dignity-based, and principally Canadian- and German-inspired, model following the adoption of the partial Bill of Rights in the 1990s. This is demonstrated both by a statistical analysis of the Israeli Supreme Court free speech rulings in the past thirty years and by a substantive analysis of recent rulings in the areas of prior restraint, pornography, and libel.

The statistical findings demonstrate that while human dignity rarely played …

Dignity Versus Liberty: The Two Western Cultures Of Free Speech, Guy E. Carmi

Guy E Carmi

This Article offers an original comparative model for assessing freedom of expression among Western democracies through the combined lenses of human dignity and liberty. Such a new model is necessary because of two fundamental flaws in our current understanding of free expression: incoherence and inaccurate terminology.

This Article addresses the pervasive confusion of free expression terminology by first establishing a concrete theoretical framework for the meaning of human dignity and liberty. This makes possible a coherent discussion of freedom of expression across legal systems.

This Article next challenges the adequacy of Robert Post’s Constitutional Domains model as a comparative free …

Dignity - The Enemy From Within: A Theoretical And Comparative Analysis Of Human Dignity As A Free Speech Justification, Guy E. Carmi

Guy E Carmi

This Article challenges the use of human dignity as an independent free speech justification. The articulation of free speech in human dignity terms carries unwarranted potential consequences that may result in limiting free speech rather than protecting it. This possible outcome makes human dignity inadequate as a free speech justification.

This Article also demonstrates why articulations of the rationales behind the argument from dignity are either superfluous, since they are aptly covered by the argument from autonomy, or simply too broad and speech-restrictive to be considered free speech justifications. As a matter of principle, the nexus between freedom of speech …

A Constitutional Court In The Absence Of A Formal Constitution? On The Ramifications Of Appointing The Israeli Supreme Court As The Only Tribunal For Judicial Review, Guy E. Carmi

Guy E Carmi

This manuscript reviews an emerging debate in Israel regarding the appointment of the Supreme Court as a Constitutional Court. Specifically, it offers a critical analysis of the most recent proposed model, which is now in the initial legislative stages (The “Neeman Committee”), to appoint the Supreme Court as the sole constitutional arbiter.

First, the article offers an overview of the main processes that have occurred in the arena of Israeli constitutional law in the last decade, generally known as the “Constitutional Revolution.” Next, the article shows the nexus between this process and the revival of the constitutional court debate. Readers …

Comparative Notions Of Fairness: Comparative Perspectives On The Fairness Doctrine With Special Emphasis On Israel And The United States, Guy E. Carmi

Guy E Carmi

The Article offers a comparative analysis of the manner in which different legal systems refer to mechanisms that are intended to ensure fairness, impartiality, and balance in mass media reporting and on issues of public importance, namely, the Fairness Doctrine and its non-U.S. counterparts. The Article reviews several systems, yet focuses on those in Israel and the United States.

The Israeli fairness doctrine was imported from the American system, where it was subsequently repealed. Despite this fact, the Israeli Supreme Court has left the doctrine intact. The prima facie contradiction between the obsolescence of the doctrine in its land of …