French Senate Committee Dismisses Genocide Denial Bill, But Senate Still Set to Vote on Jan. 23

A committee of the French Senate voted in favor of a proposal on Wednesday that rejects a controversial bill criminalizing the denial of genocide (including the Armenian Genocide) which was passed in the lower house of the French Parliament on Dec. 22.

The committee, which reviews bills before they are voted on, said the legislation would be unconstitutional, AFP reported. This does not mean that the genocide bill will not go to the French Senate on Jan. 23 as planned. But if the senate votes in favor of the proposal rejecting it, the genocide bill will not be taken up by the senate.

As reported by Today’s Zaman, officials at the Senate press office said that in the vast majority of cases the full chamber follows the recommendations of the Commission of Laws.

However, rejection by the Senate does not necessarily kill a measure that the lower house — the most powerful in France — wants passed into law. The National Assembly can resurrect the bill and try again, and eventually gets the last word.

Two scenarios are now most likely when the French Senate debates the bill Monday, Senate press officials said. Senators could ignore the panel vote and pass the bill, putting it on a fast track to becoming law, or they could reject the bill, handing it to a commission from both houses to iron out differences.

The second option would greatly slow the legislative process. A freeze on all but the most critical legislation goes into effect in early March ahead of spring presidential and legislative elections.

In a statement, the commission said: “There was a genocide, and the commission wants to express its infinite respect for the Armenian people, and the terrible experiences that they have endured.”

But the panel also expressed doubts about “the legitimacy of the intervention of the legislature in the field of history” and suggested that commemorations or legislative resolutions might be a better way to express sympathy for the suffering than laws to criminalize some types of speech.

Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday that French commission displayed its commonsense by the decision.