The Offense of Glorification and Public Justification of Terrorism as an Expression of Hate Speech: A Critical Approach to the Supreme Court’s Jurisprudence Regarding the Requirement to Create a Risk

Abstract

STC 112/2016, of 20 June, conceives the crime of glorification and public justification of terrorism as an expression of hate speech that criminalizes the generation or maintenance of a climate of hostility that, in the end, can result in the commission of future crimes of terrorism. In this sense, the main purpose of this article is to address how the Supreme Court has assessed the risk situation which is the glorifying or justifying conduct produces in rights people and system of freedom. For this purpose, all the Supreme Court judgments on the crime of glorification and public justification of terrorism are analyzed since STC 112/2016, of 20 June, reaching the conclusion that this operation has been carried out in a very superficial way that, in addition to generating significant confusion and legal uncertainty, continues to give decisive relevance to the literal content of publications