*本文發表於兩年前*
這個手勢或許不夠文明禮貌，但「並非犯罪」，且受到加拿大憲法保障，判決中指出。
**奧利佛·霍姆斯報導**
2023年3月10日 星期五 格林威治標準時間上午11:17
把中指比給鄰居或許不是禮貌的行為，但根據一位法官的裁定，它仍受到加拿大憲法中言論自由權的保護。
在一份長達26頁的判決中，丹尼斯·加里亞薩托斯（Dennis Galiatsatos）駁回了一起針對一名男子的案件，該男子被控在蒙特婁郊區騷擾鄰居。
「我要非常清楚地說，對某人比中指不是犯罪行為，」他在2023年2月24日的判決中寫道。「比這象徵性的鳥手勢是上帝賦予的、並由《權利與自由憲章》保障的權利，是每一位熱血加拿大人所擁有的自由，」他補充說，這裡提到的是加拿大《權利與自由憲章》。
**延伸閱讀：**
*紐西蘭「中指」公共衛生宣導活動被批評*
被告尼爾·愛普斯坦（Neall Epstein）是一位教師，於2021年5月因涉嫌對魁北克貝肯斯菲爾德（Beaconsfield）的鄰居進行死亡威脅與「刑事騷擾」而被警方逮捕。
在判決中，加里亞薩托斯嚴厲批評提出指控的鄰居麥可·納卡契（Michael Naccache），他表示這些指控「充其量只是一些瑣碎的鄰里紛爭」。
「令人遺憾的是，原告竟然將刑事司法制度武器化，企圖為了一些微不足道的個人不滿而報復一位無辜男子，」加里亞薩托斯寫道。
納卡契先前還指控愛普斯坦在2021年3月毆打他的父母，但法官完全駁回了這一說法。
不過，本案的焦點發生在同年稍晚。根據庭上證詞，5月時，納卡契手持電鑽對著愛普斯坦罵道：「你這個瘋子鄰居，白癡，」還說：「你死定了。」
作為回應，愛普斯坦對他說「滾蛋」，並在離開時比了中指。根據法院文件與監視器畫面顯示，「愛普斯坦清楚地朝著原告的方向比中指，有時還是雙手一起比。」
然而，加里亞薩托斯法官認為，「被人罵一句『滾蛋』，不應該成為撥打911的理由」。
法官表示：「原告大可以對這樣的侮辱感到震驚、自行『掩面驚呼』，但警察部門和911接線中心有更重要的事情要處理。」
加里亞薩托斯在判決中指出，比中指這個手勢「也許不夠文明、不夠有禮，也不夠紳士……然而，它並不構成刑事責任。」
他補充道，儘管人們常說「案件被駁回」，「但事實上案件並不是真的被丟出去」，不過在這件事上，「法院確實想要把這個案卷直接丟出窗外。」
他最後語帶幽默地說：「可惜的是，蒙特婁法院的法庭沒有窗戶。」
本報導由法新社（Agence France-Presse）協助整理。
Giving the middle finger is a ‘God-given right’, Canadian judge rules
This article is more than 2 years old
Gesture may not be civil or polite but ‘it is not a crime’ and is protected under Canada’s constitution, judgment says
Oliver Holmes
Fri 10 Mar 2023 11.17 GMT
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Giving your neighbour the middle finger may not be polite but is protected as part of a person’s right to freedom of expression under the Canadian constitution, a judge has ruled.
In a 26-page decision, Dennis Galiatsatos dismissed a case against a man accused of harassing his neighbour in a Montreal suburb.
“To be abundantly clear, it is not a crime to give someone the finger,” he said in a ruling dated 24 February. “Flipping the proverbial bird is a God-given, charter-enshrined right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian,” he added, referring to Canada’s charter of rights and freedoms.
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The accused, Neall Epstein, a teacher, had been arrested by police in May 2021 for uttering death threats and “criminal harassment” against his neighbour in Beaconsfield, Quebec.
In his decision, Galiatsatos launched a stinging rebuke of the neighbour and complainant, Michael Naccache, whose grievances, he said, were “nothing more than mundane, petty neighbourhood trivialities”.
“It is deplorable that the complainants have weaponised the criminal justice system in an attempt to exert revenge on an innocent man for some perceived slights that are, at best, trivial peeves,” Galiatsatos wrote.
Naccache had previously accused Epstein of assaulting his parents in March 2021, a claim the judge dismissed outright.
The focus of the case happened later that year, however. In May, Epstein testified his neighbour held up a handheld drill and said: “You fucking crazy neighbour; you dipshit,” adding: “You’re fucking dead.”
In response, Epstein told him to “fuck off” and proceeded to give Naccache the finger as he walked away, court documents showed. Video evidence, taken from CCTV footage, “clearly shows that Epstein is looking in the complainant’s direction and giving him the finger, sometimes with both hands”.
Later that day, Epstein returned home to find police officers waiting for him. They arrested him for uttering death threats.
Galiatsatos’s view, however, was that “being told to ‘fuck off’ should not prompt a call to 911”.
The judge said: “The complainants are free to clutch their pearls in the face of such an insult. However, the police department and the 911 dispatching service have more important priorities to address.” he said.
The middle finger gesture, Galiatsatos ruled, “may not be civil, it may not be polite, it may not be gentlemanly … Nevertheless, it does not trigger criminal liability.”
He added that despite common vernacular, “cases aren’t actually thrown out,” but that in this matter, “the court is inclined to actually take the file and throw it out the window”.
“Alas,” he said, “the courtrooms of the Montreal courthouse do not have windows.”
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
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