BERENGER (René). - Lot 43

BERENGER (René). Born in Valence. 1830-1915. Magistrate and politician. M.A. entitled "Projet de Loi sur l'abrogation du décret du 17 février 1852 sur la Presse". S.l.n.d. 6 pp. in-folio. This bill proposes the modification of several articles of the laws of July 27, 1849 and May 11, 1868, concerning freedom of the press.Article 4 of the amended law of July 27, 1849 stipulates that ...the publication or reproduction in bad faith of false news, fabricated or falsified documents or documents falsely attributed to third parties will be punishable by a prison sentence of one month to one year and a fine of 50 francs to 1,000 francs... For article 6, the new text proposes that ...all distributors or peddlers of books, writings, brochures, engravings and lithographs must be in possession of an authorization which will be issued to them for the Dept de la Seine by the Préfet de Police, and for the other dept by the Préfets. The publication, exhibition and sale of drawings, engravings, lithographs, medals, prints or emblems of any nature or kind whatsoever, may not take place without prior authorization from the Minister of the Interior in Paris and the Prefects in the Dept. Political or social economy newspapers published abroad may only be brought into or distributed in France by virtue of government authorization... The following amendment ...The publication by a newspaper or periodical of an article dealing with political or social economy matters and emanating from an individual sentenced to an afflictive and infamous penalty or an infamous penalty only, or of any article signed by a person deprived of his civil and political rights or to whom the territory of France is forbidden, is punishable by a fine of 1,000 f. to 5,000 f, which will be imposed jointly and severally on the publishers, managers and printers of the said newspaper or periodical... concern article 9 of the law of May 11, 1868, while article 12 of the same law stipulates that ...a conviction for a crime committed through the Press will automatically lead to the suppression of the newspaper whose manager has been convicted. In the event of a repeat offence within two years of the conviction (...) the courts may (...) suspend the newspaper or periodical for a period of not less than fifteen days and not more than two months. A suspension of between two and six months may be pronounced for a third conviction within the same period... This is followed by further clarifications and alternative proposals for amendments to these laws.