For a detailed analysis of the French legislative case see Chapter 7 in Knowing about Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles.
In 1998, the French National Assembly introduced a bill regarding collective memory of the Armenian genocide. The legislation was comprised of a single statement: “France publicly recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915.” The bill passed on May 29th, 1998, and although legislative transcripts are not publicly available, the bill passed unanimously in the National Assembly, and France became the first western European nation to have a legislative body deem the atrocities of 1915 as genocide.
Ultimately, the bill passed 164-40 in the Senate on 7 November 2000, and President Jacques Chirac signed it into law on 29 January 2001. Public record of voting shows that all members of the Communist Party, Democratic Party and Socialist Party voted in favor of the bill. The Centrist Union was the only political group that had a minority of their members in support of the bill, with 19 in favor and 25 in opposition. The group of Republicans and Independents was somewhat spilt on the issue as well, with 24 members in favor and 9 in opposition. Most of the Rally for the Republic members did not participate in the vote, presumably due to their doubt in the responsibility of Parliament in writing history. Though various Senators discussed the bill’s questionable constitutionality, the bill was never brought before the Constitutional Council.
On the 18th of May 2006, a bill to supplement the 2001 law was introduced in the National Assembly by Mr. Didier Migaud and several of his Socialist colleagues. Socialist Christophe Masse, Rapporteur of the Committee on constitutional laws, legislation, and general administration of the Republic, explained that the bill was intended to add a new aspect to the 2001 law to strengthen its ability to uphold public recognition of the genocide through making it a criminal offense to deny the genocide. He stated that the bill followed wide statements of denial subsequent to the commemoration of a memorial of the Armenian Genocide just a month prior. Masse highlighted that the debate about the role of Parliament in history and memory was already resolved through the 2001 law. Additionally, he explained that the Gayssot Act (1990), which prohibits any racist, anti-Semitic, or xenophobic activities (including Holocaust denial), needed to be extended to all crimes against humanity, and thus it seemed prudent to extend this prohibition to the Armenian Genocide, especially since it has legislative recognition.
On May 4, 2011, Socialist Serge Lagauche introduced the legislation to punish denial of the Armenian genocide before the Senate. He explained that the Government and the Conference of Presidents of the Senate had spent the last five years blocking the bill, but he hoped that the Socialist group could insert the text into the Senate agenda. Lagauche cited the 29 July 1881 law on the freedom of the press and stated that the bill simply aims to complete the law of January 29, 2001. In the current state of law, French law recognized only two genocides: the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, but only the denial of the Holocaust was punishable by law. In addressing the question of Parliament’s role in memory laws, he stated that Parliament is perfectly right in defending the values of the Republic, the foremost of which is human dignity. His speech received applause from parts of the Socialist group and the CRC group.
The vote to oppose the plea of inadmissibility passed with a vote of 196-74, and as a result, the bill was rejected. The debates in this particular session centered largely on constitutionality, and were more legally focused than any of the previous sessions concerning Armenian genocide memory legislation. The session highlighted the continual bipartisan nature of such legislation, and though most of the Socialists and Communists were in favor of the legislation, some were in opposition, and the UMP was heavily divided.
On December 22, 2011, Valérie Boyer, a member of the Union for a Popular Movement group and Rapporteur of the Committee on constitutional laws, legislation, and general administration of the Republic, introduced in the National Assembly a bill on repression of protest to the existence of genocides recognized by law. She clarified that the purpose of the debate was not to vote on a memory law, as that had already been decided a decade prior. Boyer framed the law as an extension of a European framework, to “transpose a European decision which aims to ensure that racist and xenophobic offenses are punishable in all member states of a minimum level of effective penal sanctions, proportionate and dissuasive – in this case, one year imprisonment to a minimum and maximum of three years.”
The entire bill passed, though specific information on voting records is unavailable. From speeches given during the debate, it is evident that the Socialist, Radical and Various Citizen Left party and the Union of Democrats and Independents were exclusively in favor of the bill, and the UMP and SRC were somewhat split, although exact numbers are unknown.
On January 23, 2012, the bill was brought before the Senate. Patrick Ollier, Minister for Relations with Parliament, again gave the introduction speech. He quoted the philosopher Santayana that is engraved on many memorials: “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” He stated that the debate over whether memory laws should be implemented in Parliament is a necessary debate to have, but that is not the point of this particular legislation. Instead, it fills a legal vacuum in providing consistency with the Gayssot Act. He clarified that the law would only be applied to cases of outrageous denial, and would be punished by one-year imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine. He concluded by stating that the government is aware of potential implications the legislation could have in regards to French-Turkish relations, but the government was still in support.
Jean-Pierre Sueur, rapporteur and President of the Committee on Constitutional laws, legislation, universal suffrage, regulation and general administration, next spoke in opposition to the text. He began by stating that he did not speak on behalf of a political party, but spoke on behalf of the Law Committee of the Senate. A large majority of Senators in the committee voted to pass a motion to oppose the plea of inadmissibility, and thus any political exploitation of the decision would be futile, since Senators passed the motion from all positions on the political spectrum.
The President called for a vote on the entire bill, and it subsequently passed with a vote of 127-86. After announcement of adoption, some senators of the UMP, UCR, CRC group and the Socialist group stood and applauded. Though public voting records were unavailable, the Senate proceedings made it clear that each party was divided within itself, in particular the Socialist group and the UMP group. Even parties such as the CRC, which in other instances of Armenian genocide memory law had been exclusively in favor, were still internally divided during this session. The debates centered on constitutionality, and before Nicolas Sarkozy could sign this bill into law, it was sent before the Constitutional Council.
On January 31, 2012, the legislation was referred to the Constitutional Council. The Council took into consideration the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the Law of 29 July 1881 on the freedom of the press. The Council reached the following conclusion:
Considering that a legislative provision having the objective of "recognizing" a crime of genocide would not itself have the normative scope which is characteristic of the law; that nonetheless, Article 1 of the law referred punishes the denial or minimization of the existence of one or more crimes of genocide" recognized as such under French law"; that in thereby punishing the denial of the existence and the legal classification of crimes which Parliament itself has recognized and classified as such, Parliament has imposed an unconstitutional limitation on the exercise of freedom of expression and communication; that accordingly, without any requirement to examine the other grounds for challenge, Article 1 of the law referred must be ruled unconstitutional; that Article 2, which is inseparably linked to it, must also be ruled unconstitutional,
After the decision was released on February 28, 2012, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would make an effort to rewrite the bill and push a constitutional version of the legislation through Parliament. However, François Hollande was elected in April, and he too announced his support for new legislation.
In 1998, the French National Assembly introduced a bill regarding collective memory of the Armenian genocide. The legislation was comprised of a single statement: “France publicly recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915.” The bill passed on May 29th, 1998, and although legislative transcripts are not publicly available, the bill passed unanimously in the National Assembly, and France became the first western European nation to have a legislative body deem the atrocities of 1915 as genocide.
Ultimately, the bill passed 164-40 in the Senate on 7 November 2000, and President Jacques Chirac signed it into law on 29 January 2001. Public record of voting shows that all members of the Communist Party, Democratic Party and Socialist Party voted in favor of the bill. The Centrist Union was the only political group that had a minority of their members in support of the bill, with 19 in favor and 25 in opposition. The group of Republicans and Independents was somewhat spilt on the issue as well, with 24 members in favor and 9 in opposition. Most of the Rally for the Republic members did not participate in the vote, presumably due to their doubt in the responsibility of Parliament in writing history. Though various Senators discussed the bill’s questionable constitutionality, the bill was never brought before the Constitutional Council.
On the 18th of May 2006, a bill to supplement the 2001 law was introduced in the National Assembly by Mr. Didier Migaud and several of his Socialist colleagues. Socialist Christophe Masse, Rapporteur of the Committee on constitutional laws, legislation, and general administration of the Republic, explained that the bill was intended to add a new aspect to the 2001 law to strengthen its ability to uphold public recognition of the genocide through making it a criminal offense to deny the genocide. He stated that the bill followed wide statements of denial subsequent to the commemoration of a memorial of the Armenian Genocide just a month prior. Masse highlighted that the debate about the role of Parliament in history and memory was already resolved through the 2001 law. Additionally, he explained that the Gayssot Act (1990), which prohibits any racist, anti-Semitic, or xenophobic activities (including Holocaust denial), needed to be extended to all crimes against humanity, and thus it seemed prudent to extend this prohibition to the Armenian Genocide, especially since it has legislative recognition.
On May 4, 2011, Socialist Serge Lagauche introduced the legislation to punish denial of the Armenian genocide before the Senate. He explained that the Government and the Conference of Presidents of the Senate had spent the last five years blocking the bill, but he hoped that the Socialist group could insert the text into the Senate agenda. Lagauche cited the 29 July 1881 law on the freedom of the press and stated that the bill simply aims to complete the law of January 29, 2001. In the current state of law, French law recognized only two genocides: the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, but only the denial of the Holocaust was punishable by law. In addressing the question of Parliament’s role in memory laws, he stated that Parliament is perfectly right in defending the values of the Republic, the foremost of which is human dignity. His speech received applause from parts of the Socialist group and the CRC group.
The vote to oppose the plea of inadmissibility passed with a vote of 196-74, and as a result, the bill was rejected. The debates in this particular session centered largely on constitutionality, and were more legally focused than any of the previous sessions concerning Armenian genocide memory legislation. The session highlighted the continual bipartisan nature of such legislation, and though most of the Socialists and Communists were in favor of the legislation, some were in opposition, and the UMP was heavily divided.
On December 22, 2011, Valérie Boyer, a member of the Union for a Popular Movement group and Rapporteur of the Committee on constitutional laws, legislation, and general administration of the Republic, introduced in the National Assembly a bill on repression of protest to the existence of genocides recognized by law. She clarified that the purpose of the debate was not to vote on a memory law, as that had already been decided a decade prior. Boyer framed the law as an extension of a European framework, to “transpose a European decision which aims to ensure that racist and xenophobic offenses are punishable in all member states of a minimum level of effective penal sanctions, proportionate and dissuasive – in this case, one year imprisonment to a minimum and maximum of three years.”
The entire bill passed, though specific information on voting records is unavailable. From speeches given during the debate, it is evident that the Socialist, Radical and Various Citizen Left party and the Union of Democrats and Independents were exclusively in favor of the bill, and the UMP and SRC were somewhat split, although exact numbers are unknown.
On January 23, 2012, the bill was brought before the Senate. Patrick Ollier, Minister for Relations with Parliament, again gave the introduction speech. He quoted the philosopher Santayana that is engraved on many memorials: “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” He stated that the debate over whether memory laws should be implemented in Parliament is a necessary debate to have, but that is not the point of this particular legislation. Instead, it fills a legal vacuum in providing consistency with the Gayssot Act. He clarified that the law would only be applied to cases of outrageous denial, and would be punished by one-year imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine. He concluded by stating that the government is aware of potential implications the legislation could have in regards to French-Turkish relations, but the government was still in support.
Jean-Pierre Sueur, rapporteur and President of the Committee on Constitutional laws, legislation, universal suffrage, regulation and general administration, next spoke in opposition to the text. He began by stating that he did not speak on behalf of a political party, but spoke on behalf of the Law Committee of the Senate. A large majority of Senators in the committee voted to pass a motion to oppose the plea of inadmissibility, and thus any political exploitation of the decision would be futile, since Senators passed the motion from all positions on the political spectrum.
The President called for a vote on the entire bill, and it subsequently passed with a vote of 127-86. After announcement of adoption, some senators of the UMP, UCR, CRC group and the Socialist group stood and applauded. Though public voting records were unavailable, the Senate proceedings made it clear that each party was divided within itself, in particular the Socialist group and the UMP group. Even parties such as the CRC, which in other instances of Armenian genocide memory law had been exclusively in favor, were still internally divided during this session. The debates centered on constitutionality, and before Nicolas Sarkozy could sign this bill into law, it was sent before the Constitutional Council.
On January 31, 2012, the legislation was referred to the Constitutional Council. The Council took into consideration the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the Law of 29 July 1881 on the freedom of the press. The Council reached the following conclusion:
Considering that a legislative provision having the objective of "recognizing" a crime of genocide would not itself have the normative scope which is characteristic of the law; that nonetheless, Article 1 of the law referred punishes the denial or minimization of the existence of one or more crimes of genocide" recognized as such under French law"; that in thereby punishing the denial of the existence and the legal classification of crimes which Parliament itself has recognized and classified as such, Parliament has imposed an unconstitutional limitation on the exercise of freedom of expression and communication; that accordingly, without any requirement to examine the other grounds for challenge, Article 1 of the law referred must be ruled unconstitutional; that Article 2, which is inseparably linked to it, must also be ruled unconstitutional,
After the decision was released on February 28, 2012, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would make an effort to rewrite the bill and push a constitutional version of the legislation through Parliament. However, François Hollande was elected in April, and he too announced his support for new legislation.