Salome Mbugua

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has produced a comprehensive report on Ireland for UN anti-racism experts ahead of two days of questioning in Geneva next week.

The watchdog says it is concerned that Ireland’s “reliance on judicial discretion in sentencing places limitations on the justice system’s ability to deal with hate crime”.

Although prejudice motivations can be taken into account by the sentencing court, the court is under no obligation to do so.

The Courts Service does not keep data on these factors when recording the final sentence imposed, so “no record is kept of the number, scale, or incidence of criminal sentences informed by the hate element of the crime”.

The report adds: “Recent research suggests that, in practice, the hate element of a crime is prone to becoming invisible at various stages of the criminal justice process, from the reporting and investigation of the crime, through to prosecution and sentencing.

“The research points to the fact that the bias motivation, due to various obstacles encountered, may not reach the sentencing stage of a trial and where it does, it is far from clear that an appropriate aggravation of sentence is assured.

“This represents a clear challenge to the State’s position that judicial discretion in sentencing effectively deals with hate crime.”

The report also warns that the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 is inadequate to effectively address hate speech and the law needs modernisation and reform.

The commission recommends that statutory provision be made for aggravation and penalty enhancements for crimes motivated by hate or prejudice, as well as the development of legislative measures for the creation of substantive hate-motivated criminal offences.

Commission member Salome Mbugua, who will present the findings in Geneva on Monday, said: “Ireland is a diverse, multi-ethnic and multinational society, and in this country no-one should be subjected to racial discrimination.

“Sustained leadership from political and public institutions is required to effectively combat racial discrimination, and to ensure an inclusive society.

“This report to the UN sets out the Commission’s independent evaluation of where the State has fallen down on its human rights obligations, and sets out where progress needs to be made in specific actions to combat racial discrimination.

“Our commitment to human rights and equality cannot be passive, it cannot be taken for granted, it must be earned through action. State leadership is required to ensure that people have their rights guaranteed, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin.”