Browsing by Author "Shirtcliffe, George Miro"

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Open Access
Ancient Civil Disobedience and the Ethos of Fidelity to Truth
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2023) Shirtcliffe, George Miro; Colón-Ríos, Joel
This paper concerns ancient conscientious disobedience, arguing its popular alignment with orthodox civil disobedience theory is misguided. This is due to a conflict of ethoi, namely, the fidelity to truth of antiquity and the fidelity to law of civil disobedience. It discusses two ancient narratives, Sophocles’ Antigone and chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel, to examine the legitimacy of their status as ancient paradigms of civil disobedience. Although the protagonists of both narratives conform to most requirements of civil disobedience, they lack the requisite protest intent. They intend to follow their religious duties, not change the law. This reveals a more profound disconnect from civil disobedience in the form of conflicting ethoi. Civil disobedience is founded upon the actor’s fidelity to law. An intent to protest is its most important expression, as it shows the actor’s concern lies in improving the justice of the legal system the law protested operates within. Antigone and Daniel’s lack of an intent to protest thus shows an absence of fidelity to law. Instead, both are motivated by fidelity to truth. They are solely concerned with following the dictates of their respective truths, a commitment so strong that it operates independent of whether their acts constitute disobedience to a mortal law. This paper then turns to two more ancient case studies: the story of the Hebrew Midwives and Socrates. While they were undoubtedly not civil disobedients, the fidelity to truth manifest in both reveals it to be the predominant ethos behind ancient conscientious disobedience. Hence, this paper concludes that civil disobedience does not align with most acts of ancient disobedience. But this does not undermine the gravitas of these ancient narratives. Instead, the best approach is to recognise that they remain potent instances and notions of conscientious, but not civil, disobedience.
Open Access
The Proposed Reform Of New Zealand’s Criminal Hate Speech Law
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2022) Shirtcliffe, George Miro
This paper discusses the Labour Government’s 2021 proposal to replace s 131 of the Human Rights Act 1993, New Zealand’s current criminal hate speech law, with a new provision in the Crimes Act 1961. The central aim of this paper is to determine whether the provision correctly addresses hate speech. This paper analyses hate speech and whether its harm justifies legislating against it. It agrees the harm it produces is tangible and an increasing issue in New Zealand, indicating s 131 is inadequate. Hate speech laws infringe upon freedom of expression, a justifiably important right protected by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. However, s 5 allows for “demonstrably justified” limitations upon it. To achieve this, the proposed provision must be narrowly worded to ensure it is a minimal infringement upon the right. The difficulty in distinguishing insulting communications from hate speech makes this increasingly necessary. Against this normative background, the paper examines the proposal. It agrees that the proposal’s placement in the Crimes Act will better signal the unacceptability and real harm of hate speech. Allowing the communication to be made by any means is the most justified change, as it addresses the rapid increase in online hate speech. The proposal’s use of “hatred” reflects foreign hate speech legislation and international obligations; however, it must be clearly defined to ensure a narrow application. This paper argues the omission of the “likely to” result element is unjustified, as it removes an important safeguard against an unintentionally wide application. It concludes the proposal has merit but requires more work to develop a narrow offence that presents a demonstrably justified limitation upon freedom of expression.