Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022

Link: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2022/105/

Short overview

info

This is not a legal advice, just a layman's understanding of the text. Quoted opinions of legal experts will be explicitly attributed to them.

The bill introduces new offences:

• Section 7: communicating to public materials likely to incite violence or hatred
• Section 8: genocide denial
• Section 10: preparation or posession of materials likely to incite violence or hatred

Sections 7 and 10 require to prove that the person had the intent to incite violence or hatred, or was reckless about it. Section 8 omits the provision for recklessness, requiring the intent.

All three sections are affected by section 11: simply criticising something related to one of protected characteristics is not enough to be considered an offence.

Sections 7 and 10 further specifically allow for genuine contributions to discourse.

Quotes from the bill text

Section 7(1)

1. Subject to subsections (2) to (4) and section 11, a person shall be guilty of an offence under this section if—
   1. the person—
      1. communicates material to the public or a section of the public, or
      2. behaves in a public place in a manner, that is likely to incite violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of their protected characteristics or any of those characteristics, and
   2. the person does so with intent to incite violence or hatred against such a person or group of persons on account of those characteristics or any of those characteristics or being reckless as to whether such violence or hatred is thereby incited.

Section 8(1)

1. Subject to section 11, a person shall be guilty of an offence under this section if the person—

   1. communicates material to the public or a section of the public, or
   2. behaves in a public place in a manner, that condones, denies or grossly trivialises—
      1. genocide,
      2. a crime against humanity,
      3. a war crime, or
      4. an act specified in Article 6 of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal,

   where such communication of material or behaviour is directed against a person or group of persons on account of their protected characteristics or any of those characteristics and is done with intent to incite violence or hatred against such a person or such a group of persons on account of those characteristics or any of those characteristics.

Section 10(1)

1. Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and section 11, a person shall be guilty of an offence under this section if the person—
   1. prepares or possesses material that is likely to incite violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of their protected characteristics or any of those characteristics with a view to the material being communicated to the public or a section of the public, whether by himself or herself or another person, and
   2. prepares or possesses such material with intent to incite violence or hatred against such a person or group of persons on account of those characteristics or any of those characteristics or being reckless as to whether such violence or hatred is thereby incited.

Legal analysis

Prime source of information on the bill's text is the bill digest published by Oireachtas Library & Research Service: PDF

It's a 72 page document prepared by Senior Law Researchers Caroline Sweeney and Ivan Farmer. It is full of contextual details on the history of related legislation in Ireland, on how the bill was shaped throughout different stages, what feedback was given by many civil rights organizations, and so on. If you have time for it - it's a very good reading, and we are using many quotes from it.