Denial and distortion of historical facts as a legal problem Cover Image

Negowanie i zniekształcanie faktów historycznych jako problem prawny
Denial and distortion of historical facts as a legal problem

Author(s): Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias
Subject(s): Criminal Law
Published by: Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN
Keywords: negationism; distortion of historical facts; genocide; totalitarian regimes; memory laws

Summary/Abstract: The current complex reality is characterised by a multiplicity of competing and sometimes contradictory narratives regarding the history and memory of past events, including former crimes. It is accompanied by the dissemination – sometimes on a global scale – of deliberate falsehoods regarding historical facts. The review-type presentation of the response to the challenges emerging in this area in the European legal space is the subject of this article. In particular, it addresses the legal response to the denial of crimes of genocide and the increasingly frequent phenomenon of distorting historical facts, which is much more complex than the mere negation of historical truth. The article claims that so far, the European system has not found fully satisfactory legal responses to these problems.

  • Issue Year: 1/2023
  • Issue No: XLV
  • Page Range: 177-210
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: Polish