Ireland is ‘outlier’ without legislation on hate crime

Labour Senator and legal academic Ivana Bacik says she hopes proposals for new laws on hate crime will be adopted by Government.

She was launching a new University of Limerick study recommending the creation of fresh offences and the passing of longer sentences for assault, harassment, criminal damage and public order crimes motivated by hostility, bias, prejudice or hatred.

“The key thing is to ensure that there is a political commitment to change and I certainly intend to make sure that this report is acted upon and that we do see legislation introduced in order to reflect the very specific issue of crime motivated by hate,” Ms Bacik said.

“I very much hope we will see political movement on this.”

Ms Bacik said the proposals in the Life Free From Fear report could be controversial. They would represent “a new departure for our criminal law” because they would involve “criminalising motivation”, she added.

The report proposes fresh legislation to create four new offences all aggravated by hostility: assault, harassment, criminal damage and public order.

Alongside the new offences, the introduction of a sentence enhancement provision is recommended under which hostility, bias, prejudice or hatred would be treated as aggravating factors in sentencing.

The authors of the report are Jennifer Schweppe of the School of Law and Dr Amanda Hynes and Dr James Carr of the Department of Sociology at the University of Limerick.

Dr Carr said Ireland’s lack of specific hate crime legislation was unusual in a European context.

“The pressure is building. We really are that outlier,” he said.

He quoted from the foreword to the report, written by hate crime expert Prof Barbara Perry of the University of Ontario. “The absence of hate crime legislation in Ireland is a glaring anomaly in the European context, and indeed across the West.

“Without it, Ireland stands virtually alone in its silence with respect to protecting vulnerable communities from the harms of this particular form of violence.”

The academic experts surveyed 14 non-governmental organisations which advocate for various groups of people including those with disabilities; ethnic minorities; religious minorities; the LGBT community and prisoners.

Along with sexual and verbal abuse, they reported instances of physical violence and harassment, while negative use of the internet was also highlighted.

“We propose that legislation be introduced as a matter of urgency,” the report states.

The study also recommends amending the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 to cover cases of sexual offences against disabled people.

It says Ireland should deal with the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems by signing and ratifying the additional protocol to the convention on cybercrime.

The academics will begin a follow-up study funded by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties over the next four weeks. The number of jurisdictions examined and the number of “stakeholders” consulted with will be extended for the new study. The “stakeholders” will also be asked to consider if the legislative proposals put forward in the first report would be suitable for their needs.