Hate Crime

Northern Ireland should overhaul its hate crime laws to adopt a statutory aggravation model similar to that in Scotland, a major judge-led review has concluded. Judge Desmond Marrinan was appointed last summer to carry out the independent review, which was first promised in 2017 following calls from

Consideration should be given to including a specific freedom of expression defence in hate crime laws, the PSNI has suggested. In the force's response to the consultation on hate crime laws, it said legislation "should equally balance the human rights of all within society".

New hate crime legislation will not be brought to the Northern Ireland Assembly for at least two more years, Justice Minister Naomi Long has indicated. The justice minister confirmed this week that the independent review of hate crime legislation, led by Judge Desmond Marrinan, has been delayed

A consultation paper on strengthening Northern Ireland's hate crime laws has been launched. Judge Desmond Marrinan was appointed last summer to lead an independent review of hate crime laws, fulfilling a commitment given by former Justice Minister Claire Sugden and following calls from across the cr

New hate speech offences should be introduced to strengthen community cohesion in Ireland, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has said. The human rights watchdog has published its submission to the Department of Justice's consultation on the Incitement to Hatred Act 1989.

A public consultation on proposed changes to Ireland's hate speech laws will close on Friday. The consultation was launched in October and has been described as the "first phase" of a wider update of criminal law on hate speech and hate crime.

Judicial discretion in sentencing does not effectively deal with hate crime because the hate motivation "is prone to becoming invisible at various stages of the criminal justice process", Ireland's human rights watchdog has warned. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has produced a compre

Ministers have launched a public consultation on proposed changes to Ireland's hate speech laws. The consultation, which will run until 13 December 2019, has been described as the "first phase" of a wider update of criminal law on hate speech and hate crime.

An Garda Síochána has yet to address concerns raised last year over its recording of hate crimes, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has warned. A CSO report in December 2018 suggested that at least 27 per cent of hate crimes were not correctly logged in the PULSE database in 2017.

The number of suspected hate crimes referred to prosecutors in Northern Ireland increased by six per cent in the past year, according to new figures. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said it had received 355 files from police in relation to suspected hate crimes between April 2018 and March 2019

The head of the Immigrant Council of Ireland has reiterated a call for the introduction of hate crime legislation to tackle racism in Ireland. In an interview with the Irish Examiner, CEO Brian Killoran said Ireland could benefit from looking at the law in other jurisdictions.

Judge Desmond Marrinan has been appointed by the Department of Justice to lead an independent review of Northern Ireland's hate crime laws. The review will examine issues such as a workable and agreed definition of a hate crime; whether the current enhanced sentence approach is appropriate for North