TheGayssot Act orGayssot Law (French:Loi Gayssot), enacted on 13 July 1990, makes it an offence inFrance to question the existence or size of the category ofcrimes against humanity as defined in theLondon Charter of 1945, on the basis of whichNazi leaders were convicted by theInternational Military Tribunal atNuremberg in 1945–1946 (article 9).
Communist member of ParliamentJean-Claude Gayssot proposed the law. It is one of several European laws prohibitingHolocaust denial. Its first article states that "anydiscrimination founded on membership or non-membership of anethnic group, anation, arace or areligion is prohibited." The law also requires theCommission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme (National Consultative Commission on Human Rights), created in 1947, to publish an annual report on relations between ethnicities in France.[1]
At the request of theInternational League against Racism and Anti-Semitism,Paul Marchandeau,center-rightJustice Minister in the 1938-1939 third and fourthDaladier governments, issued the decree of 21 April 1939 amending theLaw on the Freedom of the Press of 29 July 1881 by providing prosecution "when defamation or insult committed against a group of persons, by their origin, race or religion, will have been designed to arouse hatred among citizens or residents" (translated). This decree was repealed by the law of theVichy collaborationist government of 16 August 1940.[2][3] The decree came again into force after theLiberation of France in 1944 by anordinance of 9 August 1944 repealing most of the Vichy legislation.[4][5]
René Pleven, center-right[6] Justice Minister in theChaban-Delmas andMessmer governments in 1969–1973, proposed in 1972 a new law against racism, which was unanimously adopted by theNational Assembly, the 72-546 1 July 1972 Law pertaining to the fight against racism. This law came as a requisite after France's ratification in 1971 of theInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It differed considerably from the 1939 decree, which permitted only the prosecutor's office to initiate a procedure, whereas the 1972 law allowed any representative organization to initiate a legal procedure.
AfterRobert Faurisson was removed from his university chair under the Gayssot Act, he challenged it as a violation of his right tofreedom of expression under theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). TheUnited NationsHuman Rights Committee upheld the condemnation of Faurisson, but mentioned that the Gayssot Act may be too broad.[7]
Art. 2 - On March 21st of each year, the date established by the U.N. for theInternational Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights provides the government with a report on the fight against racism. This report is immediately made public.
Art. 2. - Le 21 mars de chaque année, date retenue par l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour la Journée internationale pour l'élimination de toutes les formes de discrimination raciale, la Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme remet au Gouvernement un rapport sur la lutte contre le racisme. Ce rapport est immédiatement rendu public.
