The Case of the Dean of St Asaph, formally
R v Shipley, was the 1784 trial of William Shipley, the
Dean of St Asaph, for
seditious libel. In the aftermath of the
American War of Independence, electoral reform had become a substantial issue, and
William Pitt the Younger attempted to bring a Bill before Parliament to reform the electoral system. In its support Shipley republished a pamphlet written by his brother-in-law,
Sir William Jones, which noted the defects of the existing system and argued in support of Pitt's reforms. Thomas FitzMaurice, the brother of the
Earl of Shelburne, reacted by indicting Shipley for seditious libel, a criminal offence which acted as "the government's chief weapon against criticism", since merely publishing something that an individual judge interpreted as libel was enough for a conviction; a jury was prohibited from deciding whether or not the material was actually libellous. The law was widely seen as unfair, and a Society for Constitutional Information was formed to pay Shipley's legal fees. With financial backing from the society Shipley was able to secure the services of
Thomas Erskine KC as his barrister. Shipley was tried in 1784 by
Mr Justice Buller and a specially convened jury at
Shrewsbury.
Edward Bearcroft, counsel for the prosecution, argued that on the basis of the existing system the jury could not decide on the nature of the pamphlet, while Erskine argued not only that they could, but that the material did not constitute seditious libel, containing as it did "a solemn protest against all sedition". Persuaded by Erskine's arguments, the jury ruled that Shipley was not "guilty" or "not guilty", but instead "guilty of publication only", a confusing and non-standard ruling which, after a long dialogue, Mr Justice Buller declared to mean "guilty on all charges". Erskine appealed the decision to the
Court of King's Bench on 8 November, where the judges again ruled that juries could not decide whether material was libellous, but nevertheless released Shipley on a technicality; his freedom was greeted with fireworks and bonfires, and Erskine was rewarded with the
Freedom of the City of
Gloucester. Still seeking to reform the law, Erskine sent the court records to
Charles James Fox and
Lord Camden, who, after much effort, passed the
Libel Act 1792, which secured the right of juries to decide whether or not material was libellous.
The following are images from various freedom of speech-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Image 1In Brazil,
freedom of assembly and expression are Constitutional rights. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 2Local issues are often the subject of free speech. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 3George Orwell statue at the headquarters of the
BBC. A defence of free speech in an open society, the wall behind the statue is inscribed with the words "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear", words from
George Orwell's proposed preface to
Animal Farm (1945). (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 4An "unexpurgated" edition of
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1959) (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 5A protest outside the
Saudi Arabian Embassy in London against detention of Saudi blogger
Raif Badawi, 2017 (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 7Eleanor Roosevelt and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—Article 19 states that, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 8This 1688 edition of
Jacobus de Voragine's
Golden Legend (1260) was censored according to the
Index Librorum Expurgatorum of 1707, which listed the specific passages of books already in circulation that required censorship. (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 9Protesters exercise freedom of speech to hold a vigil in front of the Zimbabwean Embassy in London, 2005. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 10Orthodox priest Libor Halík with a group of followers. Halík has been chanting daily for over five years against abortion via megaphone in front of a maternity hospital in
Brno,
Moravia. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 11Punk band
Visací zámek which composed a popular song "
The President Is a Faggot" about
Václav Klaus, 2003–2013 Czech President (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 12The
Free Speech Flag was created during the
AACS encryption key controversy as "a symbol to show support for personal freedoms". (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 13A map of nations which have
Lèse-majesté laws as of September 2022 (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 14Orator at London's
Speakers' Corner, 1974 (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 15Title page of
Index Librorum Prohibitorum, or
List of Prohibited Books (Venice, 1564) (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 16Laws of holocaust denial 2025 (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 17Moscow municipal deputy
Alexei Gorinov was sentenced to 7 years in prison under Russia's
war censorship laws for his
anti-war statements in 2022. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 18First page of
John Milton's 1644 edition of
Areopagitica, in which he argued forcefully against the
Licensing Order of 1643 (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 19Article 299's prosecution have surged during
Erdogan's presidency. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 20
Blasphemy laws abolished Subnational restrictions
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Fines and restrictions Prison sentences Death sentences
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(from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 21A map of countries which have lèse-majesté laws as of January 2023 (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 22The
Bill of Rights 1689 grants the
parliamentary privilege for freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in
Parliament and is still in effect. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 24Map showing U.S. states where
anti-BDS legislation has passed, is pending, or has failed as of November 2023 (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 26De Schreeuw (The Scream) is a memorial commemorating
Theo van Gogh and a symbol of the freedom of speech. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 27In
Panegyricae orationes septem (1596), Henric van Cuyck, a Dutch Bishop, defended the need for
censorship and argued that
Johannes Gutenberg's printing press had resulted in a world infected by "pernicious lies"—so van Cuyck singled out the
Talmud and the
Qur'an, and the writings of
Martin Luther,
Jean Calvin and
Erasmus of Rotterdam. (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 28Permanent Free Speech Wall in
Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. (from
Freedom of speech)
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Image 29Russian opposition politician
Ilya Yashin was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for discussing the
Bucha massacre in Ukraine on a
YouTube stream. (from
Freedom of speech by country)
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Image 30Restriction of apostasy by country (2020) (from
Freedom of speech)