The Spanish Constitution
is the fundamental law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after the 1978
referendum, as part of the Spanish transition to democracy. It was preceded by
many previous constitutions of Spain.
There is a part in our Constitution called “Rights and Duties of
Spaniards” which is based in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This does not mean that all rights are
complied with, but at least, if they are not, we can denounce it to Court. In Spain, rights related to equal
opportunities or to having a job and housing, for instance, have a special
treatment as they are guaranteed only if the state's budget allows it. But the government has the moral obligation
to protect them. When there is conflict
between rights it must be solved by Court.
Let's see some examples of conflict:
Freedom of speech is the right to communicate one's opinions
and ideas. The term freedom of expression
is sometimes used synonymously, and includes any act of seeking, receiving and
imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the
right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is
commonly subject to limitations, as
with libel, slander, sedition
(including, for example inciting ethnic hatred), copyright violation, revelation
of classified information or
otherwise .
Slander: Oral communication of
false statements injurious to a person's reputation. A false and malicious statement or report about
someone. Any false or defamatory words
spoken or gestures made about a person; calumny.
Libel: A false publication, as in writing, print,
signs, or pictures that damages a person's reputation.
Honour: The condition of being
esteemed or respected or well regarded.
One person's good reputation.
Damaging people's honour by means of slander
or libel is an offence that may
require a civil or even penal process in order to restore the honour of the
offended person by the payment of a fine or some other form of compensation.
Sedition: Speech or behaviour
directed against the peace of a state.
An offence that tends to undermine the authority of a state. An incitement to public disorder. Publicly defending violent or discriminatory
attitudes, terrorism or racism is considered as sedition.
Censorship is the suppression of
speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable,
harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient as determined by a government, media
outlet, or other controlling body. It
occurs in a variety of different contexts including speech, books, music, films
and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of
reasons including national security, to control obscenity, child pornography,
and hate speech, to protect children, to promote or restrict political or
religious views, to prevent slander and libel, and to protect intellectual
property. It may or may not be legal. Many countries provide strong protections
against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and it is
frequently necessary to balance conflicting rights in order to determine what
can and cannot be censored. In Spain,
censorship before publication is forbidden by law, but publications can be
withdrawn or retired from circulation by a court order when the content is
considered to incur offences like libel, sedition or an offence against honour,
right to privacy, etc.
Right to privacy: All people have the
right to enjoy their own privacy and their family's privacy. The right to privacy is the right to be let
alone, in the absence of some "reasonable" public interest in a
person's activities, like those of celebrities or participants in newsworthy
events. Invasion of the right to privacy can be the basis for a lawsuit for
damages against the person or entity violating the right. The right to privacy and the right to
information are considered to be Fundamental Rights by the Spanish
Constitution. The former is enshrined in Article 18.1 and the latter in Article
20.1.d. However, each right limits the other and litigation will normally occur
when a party claims the enforcement of one of these rights against another
party claiming a defence based on the other right. In such a case, it is up to
the court to find the correct balance between the two rights in question.
Civil disobedience: is the active refusal to obey certain laws,
demands and commands of a government based on the belief that there are
sufficient moral reasons for those laws to be reformed or abolished. Civil disobedience is commonly defined as
being non-violent resistance. It has
been used throughout history as a political resort, for instance, by Gandhi in
his fight against British colonisation in India, and by Martin Luther King in
his fight against race discrimination in the USA. Other examples of disobedience are military disobedience (refusal to comply
with the military service), fiscal
disobedience (refusal to pay some taxes) and squatting (occupying an abandoned or unoccupied building or land
that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise has lawful permission to
use). When civil disobedience is carried
out by a high number of citizens this contributes to governments reforming
laws. In his Dictionary of Ethics, O. Höffe points out that civil disobedience
must comply with the following requirements:
ñ
It must follow political
or moral reasons
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It must be expressed
publicly
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It must be carried out in
a non-violent way
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It must be about Human
Rights
Conscientious objection: Refusing to act against our own moral,
religious or philosophical ideas.
Conscientious objection is the moral justification for civil
disobedience.
NOW SOME ACTIVITIES
1
True or false?
a
The Constitution of 1978 was the first Spanish
Constitution.
b
“Rights and Duties of Spaniards” is a part in
the Spanish Constitution.
c
The state has no moral obligation towards the
right to have a house to live in.
d
The right to freedom of speech is absolute in
all countries.
e
Copyright violation and revelation of
classified information are permitted in Spain.
f
Damaging people’s honour is an offence that
may require a civil or penal process.
g
In Spain, publications containing child
pornography can be retired from circulation.
h
When the right to privacy and the right to
information clash, it is up to the court to establish a balance between the
two.
i
Civil disobedience is commonly a violent act.
j
Squatting is an example
of civil disobedience.
2
Match each expression in
English with one possible translation in Spanish.
Duties, conscientious objection, freedom of speech,
copyright, slander, revelation of classified information, fine, honour,
censorship, budget, right to privacy,
lawsuit for damages, civil disobedience, libel, squatter, offence, sedition.
|
Reputación,
deberes, presupuesto, libertad de expresión, derechos de autor, difamación,
calumnia, apología del terrorismo, revelación de documento secreto, multa,
censura, delito, derecho a la intimidad, demanda por daños y perjuicios,
desobediencia civil, okupa, objeción de conciencia.
|
3
Think of some examples of
civil disobedience in recent times in Spain and discuss in pairs. Then write down the outcome of your
discussion.
4
Work in pairs and think
of one example of conflict between rights that has taken place recently and
explain the case to the whole class.
5
Copy the four
requirements, according to Höffe, for an act to be considered civil
disobedience.
6
Translate into Spanish
the paragraph about civil disobedience.
7
Write an example of
conscientious objection in our country or abroad.
