Man convicted of hate speech about a person's gender identity
Supreme Court judgment 30 September 2022, HR-2022-1843-A, (case no. 22-085322STR-HRET), criminal case, appeal against judgment.
A (Counsel Jon Wessel-Aas) v. The Public Prosecution Authority (Counsel Rudolf Martin Christoffersen)
The defendant had written several derogatory characterisations on Facebook about the aggrieved person, who had changed legal gender from male to female and changed names. Among other things, he had called her a perverted male pig with sick fantasies and wrote that it was incomprehensible that the authorities still allowed her to care for children. The Supreme Court found that the statements were contrary to section 185 subsection 2 (d) of the Penal Code that prohibits hateful statements about a person's gender expression or gender identity. It was initially established that the threshold for punishment is the same for all groups protected by section 185. Although there is large room for statements related to gender identity and expression, those in question were highly derogatory and sufficiently offensive, and therefore punishable. The sentence was suspended imprisonment for 15 days and a fine of NOK 15,000.
Area of law: Section 185 subsection 2 (d) of the Penal Code.
Key paragraphs: 21, 24 og 49
Justices: Webster, Noer, Arntzen, Falch, Thyness