«Ytringsfrihed bør finde Sted»

NOU 1999: 27
Kapittel 12 «Ytringsfrihed bør finde Sted» 350
Kapittel 12
English Summary
The Norwegian Governmental Commission on Freedom of Expression,
appointed by Royal Decree of 23 August 1996, puts forward the following proposed
amendments to Article 100 of the Norwegian Constitution:
1. There shall be freedom of expression.
2. No person may be held liable in law for imparting or receiving information,
ideas or messages unless such liability can be justified in relation to the
reasons behind freedom of expression, i. e. the seeking of truth, the promotion
of democracy and the individual’s freedom to form his or her own
opinions. Such legal responsibility must be clearly prescribed by law. No
person may be held liable in law for the reason that a statement is untrue
if it was uttered in non-negligent good faith.
3. Everyone shall be free to speak his mind frankly on the administration of
the State and on any other subject whatsoever.
4. Prior censorship and other preventive measures may only be used as far
as is necessary to protect children and the youth from harmful influence
of moving pictures. Censorship of letters may only be implemented in
institutions and by leave of a court of law.
5. Everyone has a right of access to the documents of the State and of the
municipal administration and a right to be present at sittings of the courts
and of administrative bodies elected by the people. The law may only prescribe
such clearly defined limitations to this right as overriding considerations
show to be necessary.
6. It is the responsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions
enabling an open and enlightened public debate.
«There shall be freedom of expression»
The Commission states as its basic opinion that Norway should be an open
society in which everyone should have the right to express him- or herself
freely and to keep him- or herself informed. An enlightened, active and critical
public debate is the cornerstone of democracy. This view follows from the
wording «There shall be freedom of expression» and is thus affirmatively
expressed in the first paragraph of the proposed amendment.
Freedom of expression as a concrete concept
The proposed new Article 100 will provide for a better protection of freedom
of expression, compared to the present Article 100 of the Norwegian Constitution.
Any impediment to free speech must be justifiable in relation to the reasons
behind freedom of expression.
By emphasising – in the constitution itself (second paragraph) – the three
main reasons for freedom of expression, one will achieve a realistic balance
between, on the one hand, the interests favouring restrictions on the right to
freedom of expression, and on the other hand, the need to avoid the harm or
interference that may be caused by the restrictions on the three dialectic processes
which require, by their very nature, unsupervised communication, i.e.
freedom of expression. The three processes are the dialectical seeking of
truth, uninhibited debate on matters of public concern in a democracy, and the