Helen McEntee

Helen McEntee said the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Crime) Bill 2022 would now include an objective “demonstration test” as well as the “motivation test” previously outlined in the general scheme published last year.

The minister said the changes will make it easier to secure prosecutions and convictions for crimes motivated by hate. She aims to have the new law enacted by the end of the year.

“This is a hugely important piece of legislation which will tell victims of hate crimes that we are determined to help them, and will also let perpetrators know that they will be punished for spreading hate, prejudice and division,” she said.

“I know how much it means to many groups that we get this legislation right – that it is an effective law which An Garda Síochána will be able to prosecute, and which will allow convictions be secured in the courts.

“That is why we must make sure that the bill is victim-centred and effective, and that is why I am making these changes. We must get this bill right, and it is my intention to publish the full bill in early September and enact it by the end of the year.”

The motivation test outlined in the bill’s general scheme would require proof of someone’s subjective motivation for committing an offence. However, the Department of Justice has said motivation alone “can be difficult to establish and therefore might not result in a conviction”.

The demonstration test will simply require that a perpetrator demonstrates hatred towards a member of a protected group/characteristic at the time of an offence being committed. This could include “the use of hostile or prejudiced slurs, gestures, other symbols or graffiti at the time of offending”, the Department has said.

The new bill will also repeal and replace the hate speech provisions in the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, instead proposing “cleaner and simpler offences of incitement to hatred”. These new offences will cover inciting hatred against a person or persons because they are associated with a protected characteristic, and also disseminating or distributing material inciting hatred.

The new legislation will set the threshold for criminal incitement to hatred as intent or recklessness.

The legislation will also contain “robust safeguards” for freedom of expression, such as protections for reasonable and genuine contributions to literary, artistic, political, scientific or academic discourse, and fair and accurate reporting.