E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.3 page 40 used to commit murder during the Second World War was prohibited by a decision of the interim relief judge of the Paris High Court on 25 May 1987 (Paris High Court, 25 May 1987, Gaz. Pal., 1987.I.369). II. PENALTIES FOR RACIST OFFENCES Under French law, a number of objectively racist acts and types of behaviour are characterized as criminal offences. A. Penalties for public expressions of racist thoughts Freedom of expression and opinion is guaranteed by article 11 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man, which has constitutional rank. However, abuses of this freedom are punishable by the Act of 29 July 1881 on Freedom of the Press, which deals with all expressions of thought either orally, in writing or by audiovisual means, provided that they are public. The Act of 29 July 1881 on Freedom of the Press establishes a specific regime for press offences, by derogation from the ordinary law of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. With regard to penalties for expressions of thought, the Act is favourable to the accused: pre-trial detention is usually prohibited (art. 52 of the 1881 Act), confiscation of disputed tracts prior to trial is very restricted (art. 51 of the 1881 Act), prescription of the public right of action takes effect within a short period of three months starting from the first act of dissemination to the public (art. 65 of the 1881 Act), and the procedure for press offences is governed by a very strict system relating to voidability, which requires, inter alia , that the act in question should be defined precisely (art. 65 of the 1881 Act), and relating to proceedings (arts. 50 and 53 of the 1881 Act). The following offences are provided for and punishable by the 1881 Act: Incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence on the grounds of racial or religious origin or membership Article 24, paragraph 6, of the 1881 Act, as amended by the Act of 1 July 1972, provides that anyone who, by any of the means referred to in article 23, incites discrimination, hatred or violence against a person or a group of persons on account of their origin or because they belong or do not belong to a particular ethnic group, nation, race or religion is liable to a penalty of up to one year in prison and/or a 300,000 franc fine. If the racist incitement is not public (in a letter that has been sent, for example), the offence becomes a misdemeanour punishable by a fine of up to 10,000 francs (art. R.625-7 of the Penal Code). Public defamation and insult on the grounds of racial or religious origin or membership Defamation, as provided for in article 32, paragraph 2, of the 1881 Act, is the result of any allegation or attribution of specific and erroneous facts