End of non-crime hate incidents is likely coming to Northern Ireland - but not soon says free speech campaigner
An advisor to the Free Speech Union says that this week’s decision to scrap non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) across much of GB is likely the death knell for them in Northern Ireland.
But Jeff Dudgeon also said that this is likely to take some time.
Meanwhile Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns for sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, told the News Letter that people in Northern Ireland must be allowed to enjoy the “same freedom” as those in the rest of the UK.
They were speaking after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood formally announced NCHIs are being done away with in England and Wales – a move that has long been expected.
The PSNI has not signalled that it plans to do likewise, saying that any change “would involve consultation with stakeholders, including the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Department of Justice”.
Justice minister Naomi Long in turn has said that it is a matter for the PSNI.
Mr Dudgeon, a member of the Free Speech Union's advisory council in Northern Ireland, said Ms Mahmood’s decision is “welcome”, saying: “I’ve long argued, as have the Free Speech Union, that these are inappropriate arrangements – to record non-crimes against personal records.”
He said of the PSNI: “They wouldn’t want to be seen just to be jumping to copy London.
"The essence of having a separate body of law and the rest of it is that they’re going to take time, even if they’re going to change the policy.
"It’s hard to see them hanging on to it [the practice of recording NCHIs], but given Naomi Long’s position, which would probably be to retain the option, I suspect Jon Boutcher may take his time."
In the meantime, this will “put us at odds with GB”, he said.
Ms McAnena told the News Letter: “The recording of NCHIs has been weaponised to harass gender-critical campaigners and ordinary people who know that sex is real and important.
"Freedom to speak honestly about who is male and who is female when it matters is essential to protect sex-based rights and for safeguarding.
"But the abuse of NCHIs has a chilling effect so that people are afraid to speak up.
"People in Northern Ireland need the same freedom to speak openly in defence of their rights as people elsewhere in the UK.”
NCHIs are occurrences which offend somebody, and are logged and often investigated by police, but are legal.
The News Letter has previously revealed that at least 37% of all the "hate incidents" which the PSNI records do not involve any detectable crime.
That amounts to just over 9,000 such NCHIs recorded by the PSNI in the last decade (alongside 18,789 hate crimes).
Even though no law has been broken, if someone accuses you of an NCHI then the police can log it on your record.
It can then be disclosed to prospective employers in an enhanced background check.
NCHIs are defined as something “which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic" like race, sexuality, or transgender status.
The PSNI definition goes on to add: “Evidence is not the test when reporting a hate incident; when an incident or crime has been reported to police by the victim or by any other person and they perceive it as being motivated by prejudice or hate, it will be recorded and investigated as a hate incident or crime.”
The PSNI’s Hate Crime Lead, Superintendent Joanne Gibson, has told the News Letter that “at this time there is no plan to change the current recording procedures followed by the PSNI where both crimes and incidents are recorded, however we will consider the recent national developments”.