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Article Dans Une Revue Pro Memorie. Bijdragen tot de Rechtsgeschiedenis der Nederlanden Année : 2021

Rogier versus Jottrand: dure beledigingen in de Belgische opiniepers (1861-1863)

Frederik Dhondt

Résumé

The Belgian Constitution guaranteed political liberty, exemplified by the mandatory competence of the jury for judging political and press offences. However, the constitution did not literally mention quasi-delicts. In 1861, liberal statesman Charles Rogier was insulted by the ultramontanist Catholic newspaper Le Journal de Bruxelles. He sued the newspaper’s printer under tort law, and obtained a considerable amount of damages, bypassing the jury. Progressive radical lawyer Lucien Jottrand, former member of the Constituent Assembly, argued at length that the constitution exclusively reserved competence for both civil and criminal liability to the jury. The Brussels Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation rejected this reasoning and insisted on the superior natural law-origins of tort law. Yet, this decision created a risk of private censorship, well documented in the press and in private archives on the legal battle around the Journal de Bruxelles.

Domaines

Droit

Dates et versions

hal-03272488 , version 1 (28-06-2021)

Identifiants

Citer

Frederik Dhondt. Rogier versus Jottrand: dure beledigingen in de Belgische opiniepers (1861-1863). Pro Memorie. Bijdragen tot de Rechtsgeschiedenis der Nederlanden, 2021, XXIII (1), pp.79-109. ⟨10.5117/PM2021.1.005.DHON⟩. ⟨hal-03272488⟩
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