This course will offer an opportunity to discuss and understand how various European states use law, particularly national criminal law as well as the EU law, also look back historically at to combat hate speech while at the same time trying to preserve the freedom of expression. Topics covered by the course syllabus will include the debate on the definition and delimitation of hate speech in law, the historical development of the hate speech offences in the European context, the relevant hate speech legislation of selected European states, the EU legal and policy framework on hate speech, the place and role of freedom of expression, and the criminalization of the Holocaust denial. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on law, literature and historical sources.