NOTE TO PAGES 386–392, VOL. II. When this account of the laws relating to press offences in France was written, I was not aware of the law of July 29, 1881, which had been passed about a year before, and which was not referred to in the authorities which I consulted. The new law repeals all the provisions creating offences cited on pages 390 and 391 from the laws of 1822, 1848, and 1849. The law of 1819, quoted on p. 387, is modified by provisions which make an incitement to crime by the press punishable only when it is effective, except in cases of meurtre, arson, and a few others, and when it is direct. Moreover, such incitement cannot, under the new law, be made by pictures or emblems. Attacks upon "la morale publique et religieuse" are no longer subject to punishment, though attacks "aux bonnes mœurs" continue to be so. The right to prove the truth of imputations made upon public functionaries is extended to imputations made upon "les corps 66 66 constitués, les armées de terre ou de mer, les administrations publiques, les jurés, et les témoins." It is also extended to "les directeurs ou administrateurs de toute entreprise indus"trielle, commerciale ou financière faisant publiquement appel à l'épargne." See Collection des Lois for 1881, pp. 291-324. |