27 January 2022
The Coalition Against Hate Crime Ireland has said politicians are not hearing the voices of people who are targeted by hate crime as they legislate on the issue. The Oireachtas Justice Committee has so far conducted one session on the legislation, with no representation from key affected groups like LGBTI+ people or people with disabilities. Ahead of the publication of the bill, there is no calendar for further engagement.
The Coalition Against Hate Crime is led by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). ICCL’s Head of Legal and Policy, Doireann Ansbro, said:
“It’s really important that targeted communities’ voices are heard as government drafts this legislation on hate crime. It’s not sufficient to invite some groups but not others. Different groups experience hate crime in different ways and all lived experiences need to be reflected in the legislation. For example, Travellers may experience hate crime differently to people with disabilities, immigrants, or trans people.”
The Oireachtas must engage with representatives from all the communities that stand to benefit from this new legislation at all stages of the legislative process. There needs to be a very clear rationale as to why some groups will be protected and others won’t. This is particularly important as specific consultations on hate crime never took place.
ICCL is also concerned that the Justice Committee Hearing focused only on hate crime and did not engage in sufficient scrutiny on the section of the legislation dealing with hate speech. Though the issues are related, they are distinct and must be treated as such in law.
Hate crimes are already codified crimes, such as assault or vandalism. Introducing hate crime legislation means that where such crimes are motivated by hatred towards specific communities and groups this will now be recognised in Court and in sentencing. Hate speech, though abhorrent, should only be outlawed in the most extreme cases such as incitement to violence. Otherwise legislation risks impinging on freedom of expression.
In our submission to the Committee, ICCL outlines these concerns. We recommend that hate speech be treated in separate legislation to hate crime to avoid confusion. We also call for government to implement other, non-criminal law measures, such as national education programmes and training for law enforcement to tackle non-criminal hate speech. Criminal law should only be used as a matter of last resort.
ICCL remains available to the Committee for further analysis, particularly on the issue of how to tackle hate speech.
ENDS/
Find ICCL’s submission to the Committee on the legislation: http://www.iccl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ICCL-Submission-Hate-Crime-Bill.pdf
Find ICCL’s letter to the Justice Committee calling for wider consultation: http://www.iccl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/211215-Coalition-Against-Hate-Crime-letter-Criminal-JusticeHate-Crime-Bill-2021.pdf
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is Ireland’s oldest independent human rights campaigning organisation. We monitor, educate and campaign to secure human rights for everyone in Ireland.
For comment: Doireann Ansbro or Luna Lara Liboni (Hate Crime and Equality Policy Officer)
For media queries: sinead.nolan@iccl.ie