Insult is defined by the law of July 29 on freedom of the press of 1881 as “Any outrageous expression, term of contempt or invective that does not contain the imputation of any fact” (art. 29 para. 2).<\/p>\n
Thus, unlike defamation, insult does not impute a specific fact to a person (Cass. crim., December 7, 2010, n\u00b0 10-81.984).<\/p>\n
For example, saying that someone is a thief can be an insult but not defamation because they are not accused of a specific theft. It is not always easy to differentiate between these two offenses and in cases where they are indivisible, defamation will prevail (Cass., crim. June 12, 1956). <\/p>\n
Insult is also distinguished from outrage<\/strong> (see Decision 2021-896 QPC of April 9, 2021), punished under article 433-5 of the Penal Code, which targets threats, gestures or words addressed to a person holding public authority or charged with a public service mission, in the exercise of their functions or mission.<\/p>\n Depending on whether the insult is committed in public or in private, the sanction is more or less severe. Public insult is an insult that can be heard or read by the public, it constitutes a misdemeanor. People likely to be witnesses may not be linked by a community of interest. <\/p>\n This is the case for insults uttered in the street, published in a newspaper or on the Internet, for example. In the latter case, if the insult is posted on a social network, it must be accessible to all to be qualified as a public insult. <\/p>\n For there to be a public insult, four elements must be present:<\/p>\n Paragraph 3 of Article 33 of the 1881 law determines a specific regime relating to public insults directed against a person or group of persons on account of their origin or membership or non-membership of a particular ethnicity, nation, race or religion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Examples:<\/p>\n For public insult and private insult of a racist nature, you must act within a year<\/strong> following the day when the writing or statements were issued or brought to public attention. For public or private insult that is not racist, the time limit to act is three (3) months<\/strong>. <\/p>\n The offense of insult can be “excused” when the statement falls within the framework of humor and political satire<\/strong> (Cass. crim. September 20, 2016, No. 15-82.944). To grant the benefit of the right to humor, the personality of the speaker can be examined objectively by the judge, namely whether they are a humorist or not, for example (TGI Paris, 17th ch., December 19, 2013, No. 313-11). <\/p>\n This right to humor stops when the statements infringe on the respect for human dignity.<\/p>\n According to art. 33 para.2 of the 1881 law, “insult committed in the same manner towards individuals, when it has not been preceded by provocations, will be punished by a fine of 12,000 euros<\/em>“, thus insult uttered by the victim<\/strong> who responds immediately and thoughtlessly to a provocation can be excused (Cass. Crim. Nov. 24, 2009). The recognition of the excuse of provocation implies the existence of a direct relationship between the insult and the provocation. But it is not up to the investigating judge to investigate the possible excuse of provocation in matters of insult (art. 51-1 of the 1881 law). Moreover, courts tend to dismiss the application of this cause of exoneration by various means, notably by invoking the lack of proportionality between the racial insult and the provocation<\/strong> (Cass, crim, April 1999 No. 98-81.625). <\/p>\n Insult can reside in a crude term as well as in a contemptuous or pejorative word, but sometimes words do not have this character.<\/p>\n The assessment of the insulting nature of a statement falls under the judge’s discretion<\/strong> and must be carried out depending on the context<\/strong>, and objectively, without being based on the personal perception of the victim (Cass. Crim., 20\/2\/1990, No. 89-80.483).<\/p>\nPrivate Insult<\/h3>\n
\nPrivate or non-public insult is that addressed to the victim without any third person being present<\/strong>, particularly by email or SMS, or that uttered by its author before a restricted circle of people who share the same interests<\/strong>, in the presence or absence of the victim. It constitutes an offense. <\/p>\nPublic Insult<\/h3>\n
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Racist\/Discriminatory Insult<\/h3>\n
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Penalties<\/h3>\n
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Excuses for insult<\/h3>\n
Humor<\/h5>\n
Provocation<\/h5>\n
Judge’s assessment of insult<\/h3>\n
What to do if you are the subject of insults?<\/h4>\n