This book details the legal ramifications of existing anti-blasphemy laws and debates the legitimacy of such laws in Western liberal democracies.

Foreword Eric Barendt; Introduction András Koltay and Jeroen Temperman; Part I. The Case of Charlie Hebdo: 1. Blasphemy in French law: from the Chevalier de la Barre to Charlie Hebdo Guilhem Gil; 2. Blasphemy and defamation of religion following Charlie Hebdo Neville Cox; Part II. The Right to Blashpheme: 3. Blasphemy, the public sphere and democratic self-government Ian Cram; 4. The right to blaspheme Mark Hill QC and Russell Sandberg; Part III. On Western Legal Discourse against Blasphemy Laws: 5. Blasphemy, freedom of expression and the protection of religious sensibilities in twenty-first-century Europe Peter Cumper; 6. Rethinking blasphemy and anti-blasphemy laws Robert Kahn; 7. Blasphemy, defamation of religion and religious hate speech: is there a difference that makes a difference? John Knechtle; 8. The freedom and restriction of blasphemy: theoretical perspectives András Koltay; Part IV. European Court of Human Rights and Blasphemy: 9. At the deep end of the pool: religious offence, debate-speech and the margin of appreciation before the European Court of Human Rights Tom Lewis; 10. 'Mother of God, drive Putin away': on blasphemy and activist art in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights Jeroen Temperman; Part V. Active Blasphemy/Religious Defamation Laws: 11. Religious insult and blasphemy in contemporary Finland Tuomas Äystö; 12. The blasphemy offence in the Italian legal system Cristiana Cianitto; 13. Legal protection of religion in Germany Matthias Cornils; 14. God's advocates: the multiple fronts of the war on blasphemy in Greece Effie Fokas; 15. Blasphemy law in Poland Joanna Kulesza and Jan Kulesza; Part VI. Dormant Blasphemy Laws: 16. The blasphemy ban in Denmark Lars Grassmé Binderup and Eva Maria Lassen; 17. A draft obituary for the offence of blasphemy in Ireland Tarlach McGonagle; 18. Religion and hate speech in Canada: the difficulty in separating attacks on beliefs from attacks on believers Richard Moon; 19. Blasphemy in Australia: the rags and remnants of persecution? Helen Pringle; 20. Blasphemy prohibitions and prosecutions: a US perspective Russell Weaver; Part VII. Recently Abrogated Blasphemy Laws: 21. Giving up the ghost: on the decline and fall of Norwegian anti-blasphemy legislation Helge Årsheim; 22. The theory and practice of blasphemy in the common law: slaying the seven-headed beast Ivan Hare; 23. Freedom of expression, blasphemy and religious hatred: a view from the UK Erica Howard; 24. The rise and fall of the offence of blasphemy in the Netherlands Esther Janssen; Part VIII. The Future of Blasphemy Laws?: 25. Freedom of expression and religions, the United Nations, and the '16/18 process' Marc Limon, Nazila Ghanea and Hilary Power; 26. Blasphemy, religious rights and harassment: a workplace study Andrew Hambler; 27. Towards an understanding of accelerants and decelerants: a non-juriscentric approach to offensive or hateful speech concerning religion Brett Scharffs.