French constitutional body annuls ‘Armenian genocide’ legislation

The 11-member Constitutional Council began to examine the legality of the legislation late last month after some 77 senators from across the political divide made the appeal to the court. Another 65 lawmakers in the lower house, the National Assembly, agreed to the appeal.

In a statement, the council ruled that the law was contradictory to the principles of freedom of expression written into France's founding documents. French law already considers denial of the Holocaust illegal. Far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen was famously found guilty of Holocaust denial for questioning in 1987 that the gas chambers of Nazi Germany existed, calling them “just a of detail” in the history of World War II.

The council said it was possible to put legal limits on freedom of expression to protect privacy and public order. However, any such law would have to be “necessary, adapted and proportional” to the desired effect, while having the potential for creating a legal precedent.

The decision by France's highest legal authority invalidates the law, which President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to ratify it by the end of February, ahead of a parliamentary recess for the April-May presidential election.

Shortly after the ruling was announced, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said the Cabinet would meet to consider whether to restart economic, political and military contacts with France that were frozen after the French Parliament passed the law on Jan. 23. “The verdict is positive. I hope that everyone learns the necessary lessons from this,” Davutoğlu told reporters.

The head of a French-Armenian organization, meanwhile, sharply criticized the ruling, saying it was the result of Turkish lobbying. “We have been totally outraged by the Constitutional Council's decision at its very core, which is based on politics rather than on legal grounds,” said Franck Mourad Papazian, president of the Council of Coordination of Armenian Organizations in France.

At least 60 signatures from either houses of parliament, the Senate or the National Assembly, are needed to appeal a bill at the Constitutional Council. The bill was approved in both houses of the French Parliament in January, sparking angry protests from Turkey, which denies genocide claims.

Turkish officials argued that France's center-right government had supported the law to secure the votes of some 500,000 Armenians living in France. Ankara denounced the bill as an attack on freedom of expression.

It has also warned it would impose unspecified sanctions if the measure eventually goes into effect. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attacked the French Parliament for passing what he said was “discriminatory and racist” legislation.

Tuesday's constitutional ruling is a blow to Sarkozy, who personally backed the law. The measure has sowed divisions in France, with some lawmakers expressing some of the same concerns as Ankara, notably that not allowing people to deny that the mass killings of Armenians nearly a century ago was genocide impinges on freedom of expression and legislates a domain better left to historians.

Had the bill gone into effect, those who deny that the killings of Armenians during World War I in eastern Anatolia amounted to genocide would face legal consequences. It sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros for those who deny or “outrageously minimize” the killings -- putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust.

The Constitutional Council -- whose 11 members include former presidents and others appointed by the president, and presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly -- rules on the conformity of legislation after it has been voted on by Parliament and before it is signed into law by the president. Former French presidents Valerie Giscard d'Estaing and Jacques Chirac are currently members of the council, headed by Jean-Louis Debre.

In a related development, Sarkozy asked his government on Tuesday to draft a new version of the genocide-denial law after it was struck down as unconstitutional. “The President of the Republic considers that [genocide] denial is intolerable and must therefore be punished,” his office wrote in a statement.

“He has asked the government to prepare a new draft taking into account the decision of the Constitutional Council,” the statement added.

Sarkozy's office also said in the statement that he recognized the “immense disappointment and profound sadness” of the law's supporters. Sarkozy said he will soon meet with representatives of France's Armenian community, many of whom welcomed the law's passage with a swell of relief.

Turkish Foreign Ministry also released a statement on Tuesday night, saying the law is a one-sided initiative aiming at prohibiting any challenge of Armenian views concerning “a painful period in Turkish and Armenian common history.” “We consider the annulment of the law as a step in line with freedom of expression and research, rule of law and the principles of international law and against the politicization of history in France,” the statement said.

The statement added that Turkey is glad to note that “a grave error” was corrected by the most competent judicial authority in France. It added that it is preferable that on controversial historical issues third countries adopt an impartial approach encouraging dialogue and resolution between the concerned parties, rather than make imprudent and prejudicial interventions.

Turkey urged France to adopt a constructive approach to address controversy between Turkey and Armenia on a just and scholarly basis. “Such an approach will contribute to the development of the Turkish-French relationship in the direction it deserves and in all fields,” the statement concluded.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç welcomed the latest decision and said on his Twitter feed that the French Constitutional Council “taught a legal lesson” to French politicians who put their signatures on the bill. He added that the decision by the council also averted any possible crisis between Turkey and France.