Art. 510 CP under examination: legal-criminal aspects of its typical regulation

Abstract

The criminalisation of conduct consisting of the expression of feelings of hate, discrimination or hostility has led to the inclusion of various offences punishing incitement to “hate” with respect to certain groups or collectives, in principle, in need of special protection. But this restriction on the expression of feelings or opinions represents a clear collision with fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, and this requires a restrictive interpretation of the typi-cal elements that make up these offences. This paper is essentially focused on trying to briefly delimit these elements and to analyse whether such an interpretation respectful of freedom of expression is feasible.