The Dutch law of criminal defamation consists of a number of offences protecting a legal interest considered of great importance: a person’s honour and reputation. The nucleus of the present book consists of a description and analysis of those offences. Particular attention is devoted to the relationship between these offences and freedom of speech. The Dutch law of criminal defamation is based on age-old continental, partly Roman-law provisions. The current offences find their immediate origin in the Code Pénal which preceded the present Penal Code. Unlike most other European countries, in the Netherlands criminal defamation is distributed over various sections of the Penal Code. The ’classical’ provisions are libel, slander and insult. Libel and slander are distinguished from insult in that the punishability of the former requires accusing another of a specific act. The offence of insult covers terms of abuse and vague accusations. These offences require a complaint, that is, the Public Prosecutor can not bring charges unless the defamed party has lodged a complaint with the police and has requested prosecution except in the case of defamation of a public body or an official in function. The Dutch Penal Code specifically prohibits defaming the sovereign and his direct relatives, as well as foreign heads of state and members of foreign governments, insofar as the latter are present in the Netherlands in an official capacity. These offences are included in the Penal Code among the offences safeguarding the dignity of the sovereign and state security. Those having to do with foreign officials may also be considered intended to prevent unnecessary damage to international relations. All these offences are lapsing into desuetude: in actual practice, such charges are no longer brought. Another form of defamation is the deliberate insulting of a group of people on the grounds of their race, their religious convictions or their homo- or heterosexual inclination. This offence is found in the Penal Code among the ...