Freedom Of Expression As A Core Value Of Contemporary Society

Freedom of expression is experiencing a variety of names – it is described as freedom of speech, freedom of communication, freedom of the press, freedom of association, right to assembly and various other rights - academic and artistic freedom - usually associated with the right to group communication. Due to the comprehensive scope of the term "expression", "word" , ”speech” and the possibility of opposing interests it was important to show a special care on regulating the content of communication freedoms in all countries with a sophisticated constitutional culture of human rights. The result is the need to define this fundamental right and establish whether it is considered literally to be unlimited or not and to regulate the admissible restrictions carefully so that simultaneously the State to ensure the effective protection of freedom of expression and also to provide enough space for a multitude of other competing rights and interests. The understanding of the concept of freedom of expression is extremely complex involving a thorough knowledge of constitutional values and constitutional tradition analysis of different legal systems and the international legal framework has been created by states under the influence of traditional constitutional values. At the same time, we need to balance freedom of expression with the value of other fundamental rights, resulting in the establishment of limits of expression, such as the criminalization of hate speech, incitement to violence, Holocaust denial, revisionism. The present study aims to examine the regulation of the concept of freedom of expression in fundamental instruments belonging to different juridical spaces and to identify the scope of freedom of expression and types of speech excluded from protection. There is an inseparable connection between the extent of the guarantee of the various forms of free expression and the penal limits on its exercise. This corresponds to the general rule that fundamental rights and freedoms set out in constitutional and international provisions most often are accompanied by the limits that may be imposed to the holders.