Thurles Information

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has today announced that she is amending her approach to the forthcoming Incitement to Hatred and Hate Crime Bill – the Hate Speech and Hate Crime Bill – to make it easier to secure prosecutions and convictions for crimes motivated by hatred.

The new law will legislate for hate crimes by creating new, aggravated forms of certain existing criminal offences, where those offences are motivated by prejudice against a protected characteristic. It will also update the previous 1989 legislation on hate speech to reflect the current context more accurately; including online hateful content.

Minister McEntee will now include a ‘demonstration test’ in the investigation of hate crimes which will be an additional/alternative test to the ‘motivation test’ as previously outlined in the General Scheme of the Bill, which was published in 2021.

The changes reflect Minister McEntee’s determination that the law is effective and victim-centred – and will result in prosecutions where serious crimes are committed. This was echoed by the Joint Committee on Justice during pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, and by key stakeholders that the Minister has consulted with.

Minister McEntee said: “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.

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”.

A motivation test for hate crime requires proof of someone’s subjective motivation for committing an offence – what was in their mind at that exact moment. However, the Minister has now concluded that motivation alone in proving hate crime offences can be difficult to establish and therefore might not result in a conviction.

A demonstration test means simply that a perpetrator demonstrates hatred towards a member of a protected group/characteristic at the time of an offence being committed.

This might involve, for example, the use of hostile or prejudiced slurs, gestures, other symbols or graffiti at the time of offending. In practice, it means that by using a demonstration test, the prosecution does not necessarily have to get inside the mind of a perpetrator to prove the crime but can use a demonstration test as an alternative method of proving a crime committed is a hate crime within the provisions of the legislation.

In addition, the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Crime) Bill 2022 – the full title for the Hate Crime Bill – will repeal and replace the hate speech provisions in the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989.

The Bill will strengthen the law around incitement to hatred by proposing clearer and simpler offences of incitement to hatred than those in the existing legislation.

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. This means a person must either have deliberately set out to incite hatred, or at the very least have considered whether what they were doing would incite hatred, concluded that it was significantly likely, and decided to press ahead anyway.

The legislation will 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.

• 53 Gardaí attested today at in-person ceremony, bringing to approximately 370 the number of newly attested members this year.
• 25% of new recruits are women while 15% were born outside of Ireland.

Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, today, July 8th, 2022, attended the passing-out ceremony at Templemore, to welcome and congratulate 53 newly-attested Garda members.

The new Garda members will now be assigned to Garda Divisions throughout the country.

Speaking at the attestation ceremony today, Minister McEntee stated: “It is a pleasure to see such a strong, diverse and vibrant group of new Gardaí passing out today. I would like to congratulate the newest members who join the almost 300 Gardaí who have already attested this year.

An Garda Síochána is a cornerstone of our democracy. Day in day out, we trust its members to maintain the security of the State, to protect our people, and to ensure that we can go about our daily lives in a peaceful country.

In doing their work, Gardaí have the full support of the Government. The budget provided by this Government to the Garda Commissioner continues to increase to unprecedented levels, with an allocation of over €2 billion for 2022, which is enabling sustained, ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff.

In addition, my Department is working on legislative developments to assist and support An Garda Síochána as they look to the next 100 years of policing in Ireland”.

Of the 53 new Garda members attesting today, 13 are women, while 8 were born outside the State, from England to Poland, Iraq, Mauritius, amongst others.

Minister McEntee added: “It is particularly heartening to share this day with the new recruits in the centenary year of An Garda Síochána.

I am pleased to see that the significant efforts of Commissioner Drew Harris and the wider Garda organisation to encourage diversity amongst its members are paying off. It is vital that everyone in our society sees members of their own communities serving in An Garda Síochána.

The diverse interest in recent recruitment campaigns shows that a career in An Garda Síochána is one that appeals to many – I hope for you all here today that it will be a career that is exciting, challenging and fulfilling.
You will help and protect people in their most vulnerable hours and at their most difficult times. As a country we owe you a debt of gratitude for the deep commitment to public service you have made in joining An Garda Síochána.

Go n-éirí an t-ádh libh le bhur ngairmeacha amach anseo – go raibh míle maith agaibh as an gcinneadh seo a dhéanamh, chun oibre le pobail chun iad a chosaint agus chun freastal orthu”.
[Translation Irish to English – Good luck with your future careers – thank you so much for making this decision, to work with communities to protect and serve them.]