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  • Ireland passes controversial 'hate crime' law
  • Protecting the vulnerable or restricting freedom of expression?
  • In the face of culture wars, the law can become harmful
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Ireland
Ireland takes a big step in fighting hate crime. Tommy Bond/Unsplash

Ireland passes controversial 'hate crime' law

A bill that provides for significantly tougher penalties for hate crimes has passed all the necessary stages of adoption in Ireland.

The Bill provides for tougher prison sentences for certain offenses if they are proven to be motivated by hatred or if the hatred has been openly demonstrated and publicly expressed.

For example, higher penalties will be imposed for hate crimes such as assault or damage to property linked to hatred against a particular group of people[1].

The change in the law is said to protect people who are targeted for violence on the basis of certain identity characteristics, including race, color, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, gender, gender characteristics, and sexual orientation. 

However, even before its adoption, the law was criticized in Ireland and worldwide. Critics of the legislation point out that it could lead to censorship, restrictions on people's freedom of expression and speech, and divisions and hostility.

Hate-driven crime is going to be punished more harshly. Tingey injury law firm/Unsplash
Hate-driven crime is going to be punished more harshly. Tingey injury law firm/Unsplash

Protecting the vulnerable or restricting freedom of expression?

"The decision to repeal the provisions on incitement to violence or hatred was a difficult one to take, but it was necessary to move forward to put the hate crime provisions into written law," said Helen McEntee, Ireland's Minister for Justice.

She said it is the Government's duty to protect people from crime, especially where it is directed against them by virtue of their very existence.

"The message is clear: hatred and violence against others because of who they are will not be tolerated, and this will now be reflected in the law," the Minister added.

However, the law has been the subject of intense and not always constructive debate among citizens, activists and politicians in Ireland.

The new Bill, called the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hate Crime) Bill 2022, has been in the pipeline for some time and is intended to update the 1989 Hate Crimes Act.

The latter, adopted before the spread of social media, did not cover issues such as gender expression or identity, disability or ethnicity. It also allows people who have been accused of inciting hatred by using offensive or threatening rhetoric to defend themselves "through ignorance".

Under the new law, a person will be held liable for a hate crime, even if he or she claims that it was not intentional. If prosecuted, the person will have a hate crime on their record. The bill will allow prosecutors to rely on gestures, symbols or insults a person uses when bringing a case under the new law.

The new legislation defines hate crimes as acts committed against persons who fall within the following protected characteristics: race, color, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, gender, gender characteristics, sexual orientation, and disability. The draft law also criminalizes genocide denial.

The Bill would also give the police more powers. For example, Section 15 of the Bill gives the Irish police extensive search and seizure powers regarding hate crimes.

Fines or imprisonment can be imposed on persons found guilty of hate crimes.

It is feared that this law can trigger more censorship of free speech. DJ Paine/Unsplash
It is feared that this law can trigger more censorship of free speech. DJ Paine/Unsplash

In the face of culture wars, the law can become harmful

However, the law is not only seen as a protection of certain groups of individuals but also as an attempt to influence people's right to opinion and expression. This is particularly relevant in the face of the now intensified culture wars[2].

While critics argue that the bill's definition of hate speech is vague and worry that it represents a restriction on freedom of expression, supporters of the bill argue that it will help to protect certain groups that have been neglected until now. Freedom of expression and religion are also the subject of much criticism. It is believed that the law could have serious consequences for anyone wishing to discuss transgender rights and migration issues.

Criticism from abroad is not lacking: the law has been publicly criticised by the US tech millionaire Elon Musk, the son of the former US President Donald Trump Jr. and the Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance, who compared it to the "censorship of China, Burma or Iran".

Critics argue that the law attempts to stifle and criminalize conversations in the public sphere, especially on topics that still divide society, such as transgenderism, sexual orientation, social gender, etc.

Colette Colfer, professor of world religions and social ethics at Southeastern Technical University in Waterford, says she has serious concerns about the bill's definition of gender, which defines 'gender' as the sex with which a person identifies or prefers and includes transgender identities and genders[3].

"This suggests that gender identity, rather than biological sex, should be more important in law, society and culture. According to this theory, for example, biological men who identify as women should compete in women's sports. And yet many people feel that this is very unfair to women and girls, who are inherently disadvantaged because they have not gone through male puberty," said Colfer.

While discrimination against transgender people must be addressed, Colfer says, discussion of gender identity must also be allowed without fear of personal attacks, loss of livelihood or even real, physical imprisonment.

Currently, the European Union (EU) does not require Member States to adopt legislation on hate crime, but they are expected to comply with certain principles set out in EU law, including anti-discrimination and the promotion of equality.

Irish police figures show that 651 hate crimes were committed in 2023, a 12% increase on the previous year. The most common discriminatory motives in these recorded crimes were attributed to hostile racial, nationality and sexual orientation motives.