Politics

Plan to introduce hate speech laws has been dropped, Minister for Justice confirms

Helen McEntee has insisted she will press ahead with the hate crime part of the criminal justice legislation

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the 'incitement to hatred' element of the bill does 'not have a consensus', and will be dealt with at a later time. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Sarah Slater
Sat Sept 21 2024 - 18:25

The Government will drop controversial plans to introduce hate speech laws, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has confirmed after it was revealed in The Irish Times on Saturday.

However, the Minister has said she will press ahead with the hate crime part of the criminal justice legislation despite it being seen as a row-back on her commitment.

Speaking in Athlone, she confirmed that she plans to include committee stage amendments to the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 in the Seanad.

Ms McEntee said that the “incitement to hatred” element of the bill does “not have a consensus”, and will be dealt with at a later time.

READ MORE

The Minister said that she brought her proposed bill changes to the three Coalition parties over the summer months.

[ Analysis: Stripping back of hate crime legislation was inevitable but marks a dark day for targeted communities ]

Ms McEntee said she is “adamant” that hate crime legislation would be enacted.

She pointed out the legislation will provide a very clear message in that “if you attack a person, if you commit a crime against a person or a group of people, simply because of who they are, the colour of their skin, where they have come from that there will be a tougher sentence, a harsher sentence at the end of the day”.

This provides for tougher sentences where hate is proven as a motivation for an offence.

The problematic bill has been viewed as controversial by backbenchers, Opposition parties, as well as free speech groups and tech billionaire Elon Musk. The bill has been viewed as being vague in its lack of definition around hate speech, the extended range of categories to which hatred or offence could be caused, and perceived dangers to free speech led to much questioning and criticism.

Her sentiments were echoed by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe at the Fine Gael Small Business and Enterprise Conference on Saturday in Athlone.

Minister Donohoe said the Government remains “very committed to dealing with the dangers that hate crime” poses within our society.

“We accept with respect to some parts of it we have not been able to generate a consensus and agreement that is needed for such an important part of legislation but the main thrust of it will remain intact.

“ (This is) in dealing with issues and dealing with incitements to harm that we accept that are a danger and we believe to be subject to higher penalty and sanction,” Mr Donohoe said.

Adam Long, a Board Director of the National LGBT Federation (NXF), said he was “alarmed” at the changes to the bill.

Mr Long explained that the LGBT+ community and other communities targeted by hate at a time when the real world consequences of inciting hatred and violence “have never been more apparent,” key provisions designed to ensure the State is “equipped to respond effectively to these growing threats are being removed from the bill”.

He said: “It appears that good policy has suffered at the hands of political considerations, which is especially concerning when we are talking about the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable communities.

“Victims, criminal justice practitioners and Government itself have all been clear that existing provisions around incitement to hatred are simply not fit-for-purpose, and today’s announcement does not alter that reality.”

The Board Director said that the Federation looks forward to the enactment of “long overdue” hate crime legislation in the coming weeks and “will be seeking firm commitments from all the political parties that the next government will legislate for incitement as a matter of priority”.

Also rowing in was former Justice Minister Alan Shatter who commented that the move was “beyond comprehension” that the Government intends to remove such content from its “grossly defective and inadequate” Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 instead of “urgently rectifying its glaring defects”. While MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said that dropping the hate speech element of the legislation is a “capitulation to anti-immigrant protesters”.

He believes that “Sinn Féin of course also switched their position to join the betrayal of those vulnerable groups who need these protections. Gutless politics which just handed the far right a win”.

Meanwhile, Atheist Ireland said it “welcomes the dropping of plans to introduce hate speech laws.

It said as religion is one of the characteristics in these laws, they could have become blasphemy laws by another name, and that they have “consistently lobbied against them” since they were first mooted five years ago.

“We should tackle prejudice against groups through education, and tackle prejudice-motivated crime through the law, while protecting the right to freedom of expression, based on human rights principles and standards.”

The group believes laws based on ambiguous or emotive words such as “hatred” cannot do this.

“Hate crime laws are not about hate. They are fundamentally about prejudice and bias on the basis of being a member of a group with common characteristics,” it said.

“As atheists, we empathise with members of other groups who face prejudice and discrimination in Ireland, because we have first-hand experience of it. We also recognise that members of other groups face more frightening hostility in Ireland, including overt harassment, intimidation and violence.”

They called for all groups to “all stand together” to challenge prejudice and hostility against “any and all of us”, and to protect the values of western liberal democracy that enable us to do so.