<p>The problems caused when freedom of speech crosses the boundary with extremism and racial hatred are to come under scrutiny at a conference in Cambridge later this month.</p>

Legal experts from around the world will take part in the event, which will focus on whether and how to control freedom of speech by extremists voicing their opinions.

Entitled “Extreme Speech and Democracy”, the conference is being arranged by the University of Cambridge's Centre for Public Law in partnership with the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in Arizona and will be held at the Law Faculty in Cambridge.

The participants will examine how extreme speech should be regulated in a democratic society. In particular, they will address whether incitement to religious hatred, the glorification of terrorism and holocaust denial should be forbidden in countries where freedom of speech is a key principle of law.

More than 25 legal experts from around the world will be taking part in a series of panel discussions. The keynote speakers will be the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, and Professor Dieter Grimm, a constitutional law specialist from Humboldt University in Berlin.

Topics to be covered include: Incitement to racial and religious hatred, the veil controversies, Holocaust denial, the glorification of terrorism, media regulation and self-restraint, and religious speech that offends secular values.

James Weinstein, who is a visitor at the Cambridge Law Faculty and is organising the event said: “Unlike in the US, where the First Amendment protects even the most extreme and obnoxious forms of public discourse, the dominant view in the UK and Europe seems to be that the constitutional commitment to free speech is compatible with the regulation of speech that profoundly offends basic societal norms.

“The primary goal of this conference is to determine whether this more regulatory view is consistent with the commitment to democratic self-governance. With all the various controversies concerning extreme speech recently in the news, this conference seems particularly timely.”

The event will be held at the Faculty of Law, Cambridge, on April 21 and 22. The cost for academics wishing to attend is £100, which includes dinner in the evening. A special student rate of £50 is also available. Full details can be found by following the links to the right of this page or by contacting the Centre of Public Law on 01223 330042.

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