The Spanish Constitutional Court’s case law on speech crimes that punish extreme speeches: comment on Judgment n. 35/2020, February 25 and beyond

Abstract

The Spanish Constitutional Court Judgment n. 35/2020, February 25 has set a case law stablishing that punishing extreme speeches, in particular glorification of terrorism, will be constitutional as a form of provocation which creates a danger of violent or discriminatory acts. Beyond it, this judgment for the first time requires that the danger should be examined through contextual, intentional and pragmatic-linguistic elements. However, the commented judgement also presents shadows, since it maintains a distorted conception of hate speech and does not sufficiently specify the standards that justify a limit to freedom of expression.