>**The law that forbids insulting the King is contrary to the freedom of expression and therefore the Constitution. That’s what te Constitutional Court has ruled. Insulting the head of state was punished relatively severely, but the old law from 1847 was rarely applied. The law itself still has to be scrapped, N-VA is working on a proposal to that effect.**
>
>The Constitutional Court has swept aside the Belgian ban on “lèse-majesté”. It is contrary to the right to freedom of expression that is guaranteed in our Constitution, and is therefore unconstitutional, the Court ruled.
>
>Lèse-majesté or insulting the head of state has been a punishable offence in our country since 1847. The crime carried reasonably severe penalties: “a prison sentence of six months to three years and a fine of 300 to 3,000 francs”, according to the original legal text.
>
>**Spanish rapper**
>
>The ruling came after Belgium provisionally refused to extradite a Spanish rapper. He was prosecuted in Spain for insulting the Spanish Crown. Our country can only extradite him to Spain if the same facts are punishable in our country. That is why the Chamber of Indictment of the Court of Appeal in Ghent asked the Constitutional Court for a preliminary ruling.
>
>And that Court now rules that the old law on lèse-majesté from 1847 is in conflict with the right to free expression and is therefore unconstitutional. The European Court of Human Rights had already ruled that a law on insulting a head of state is contrary to the freedom of expression.
>
>This does not mean that the obsolete law has been removed from the statute book. But N-VA member of parliament Peter Buysrogge was already working on a bill to that end. After this ruling, N-VA wants to see that proposal dealt with more quickly.
>
>**Rarely applied**
>
>The law on lèse-majesté was rarely applied, but in 2007 someone was sentenced on appeal to one year’s effective imprisonment and a fine of 5,500 euros. He had accused the king of complicity in paedophilia and corruption in letters and emails to politicians.
>
>At the end of the 19th century, the socialist leader Edward Anseele was still convicted for insulting the then king Leopold II.
>
>In our country, you can still be convicted of “slander and defamation”, but the penalties for lèse-majesté are much higher. Slander is punishable by up to one year in prison, can only be prosecuted after a complaint and requires a much higher threshold than mere insults.
>
>”The reputation of the King is protected more extensively than that of other persons”, the Court argues, and that “does not meet a compelling social need”.
>
>**Read the original legal text below:**
>
>”Whoever, whether in public places or in meetings, by remarks, cries or threats, or by any writings, printed matter, pictures or images, which are addressed, distributed or sold, put up for sale or displayed in front of the eyes of the public, makes himself guilty of insulting the person of the King, is punished by imprisonment for a term of six months to three years and by a fine of 300 to 3,000 francs.”
2 comments
>**The law that forbids insulting the King is contrary to the freedom of expression and therefore the Constitution. That’s what te Constitutional Court has ruled. Insulting the head of state was punished relatively severely, but the old law from 1847 was rarely applied. The law itself still has to be scrapped, N-VA is working on a proposal to that effect.**
>
>The Constitutional Court has swept aside the Belgian ban on “lèse-majesté”. It is contrary to the right to freedom of expression that is guaranteed in our Constitution, and is therefore unconstitutional, the Court ruled.
>
>Lèse-majesté or insulting the head of state has been a punishable offence in our country since 1847. The crime carried reasonably severe penalties: “a prison sentence of six months to three years and a fine of 300 to 3,000 francs”, according to the original legal text.
>
>**Spanish rapper**
>
>The ruling came after Belgium provisionally refused to extradite a Spanish rapper. He was prosecuted in Spain for insulting the Spanish Crown. Our country can only extradite him to Spain if the same facts are punishable in our country. That is why the Chamber of Indictment of the Court of Appeal in Ghent asked the Constitutional Court for a preliminary ruling.
>
>And that Court now rules that the old law on lèse-majesté from 1847 is in conflict with the right to free expression and is therefore unconstitutional. The European Court of Human Rights had already ruled that a law on insulting a head of state is contrary to the freedom of expression.
>
>This does not mean that the obsolete law has been removed from the statute book. But N-VA member of parliament Peter Buysrogge was already working on a bill to that end. After this ruling, N-VA wants to see that proposal dealt with more quickly.
>
>**Rarely applied**
>
>The law on lèse-majesté was rarely applied, but in 2007 someone was sentenced on appeal to one year’s effective imprisonment and a fine of 5,500 euros. He had accused the king of complicity in paedophilia and corruption in letters and emails to politicians.
>
>At the end of the 19th century, the socialist leader Edward Anseele was still convicted for insulting the then king Leopold II.
>
>In our country, you can still be convicted of “slander and defamation”, but the penalties for lèse-majesté are much higher. Slander is punishable by up to one year in prison, can only be prosecuted after a complaint and requires a much higher threshold than mere insults.
>
>”The reputation of the King is protected more extensively than that of other persons”, the Court argues, and that “does not meet a compelling social need”.
>
>**Read the original legal text below:**
>
>”Whoever, whether in public places or in meetings, by remarks, cries or threats, or by any writings, printed matter, pictures or images, which are addressed, distributed or sold, put up for sale or displayed in front of the eyes of the public, makes himself guilty of insulting the person of the King, is punished by imprisonment for a term of six months to three years and by a fine of 300 to 3,000 francs.”
Translated with [www.DeepL.com/Translator](http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)
Lèse-majesté is a relic from another era and should be done away with. It’s good that the Constitutional Court has ruled against it.