Hate crime judge calls for new laws to stop ‘dreadful trolling’ of women

The definition of a hate crime in Northern Ireland should be expanded to include offences against women and transgender people, a judge has said.
Judge Desmond Marrinan has presented his review of Hate Crime Legislation in Northern Ireland to Naomi Long MLA, Minister of Justice.
The review began work in June 2019 to find better ways to deal with hate crime in Northern Ireland.
Judge Desmond Marrinan is pictured with the review document.
Photo by Simon Graham Photography.Judge Desmond Marrinan has presented his review of Hate Crime Legislation in Northern Ireland to Naomi Long MLA, Minister of Justice.
The review began work in June 2019 to find better ways to deal with hate crime in Northern Ireland.
Judge Desmond Marrinan is pictured with the review document.
Photo by Simon Graham Photography.
Judge Desmond Marrinan has presented his review of Hate Crime Legislation in Northern Ireland to Naomi Long MLA, Minister of Justice. The review began work in June 2019 to find better ways to deal with hate crime in Northern Ireland. Judge Desmond Marrinan is pictured with the review document. Photo by Simon Graham Photography.

Intensifying levels of abuse directed at women, both online and in person, justifies the legislative move, Judge Desmond Marrinan said.

The recommendation is part of a proposed major shake-up to address failings in the legal approach to hate crime in the Province.

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If adopted, Northern Ireland would be the first part of the UK to add gender to long-standing protected characteristics for defining hate crime motivations, such as religion and disability.

England, Scotland and Wales include transgender as a protected characteristic.

In his review, commissioned by the Stormont Executive, Judge Marrinan recommends Northern Ireland should also add transgender to its legal definition, but urged it to be broadened further to include all crimes with a gender-based motive.

He said the internet had led to “dreadful trolling” of women, particularly those in politics and other positions of power.

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“They are attacked ruthlessly and aggressively, and sometimes tragically,” he said.

“The attacks that come at them mercilessly online get translated into real life, such as the dreadful murder of Labour MP Joe Cox a couple of years ago because of her views on Brexit.

“There is a wealth of information that women are frequently assaulted – and they sometimes can be assaulted or attacked for other reasons – but very often it’s an assault on them because they are women.”

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Characteristics presently protected under the law in Northern Ireland are race, religion, sexual orientation and disability.

Judge Marrinan has proposed that age, sex/gender and variations in sex characteristics such as transgenderism are all added to the definition.

He also urged that sectarianism is legally defined as an aggravating factor.

The judge said the current system in Northern Ireland, whereby sectarianism is dealt with as a religious issue, does not adequately capture the scope of sectarianism or reflect that it touches on nationality and political and cultural identity.

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At present there is a lack of specific hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland.

Hostility against one of the protected characteristics can be factored in when a judge passes sentence on someone already convicted of an offence.

Judge Marrinan recommended a fundamental reorientation of this approach and proposed that hate motivation should be factored in at the start of the criminal justice process.

He proposed a new “aggravated” tier of offences to enable police and prosecutors to add hate crime motivation to any criminal offence.

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That means someone accused of assault could be charged with a standard assault or an aggravated assault on the basis of it being motivated by “hostility, bias, prejudice, bigotry or contempt” against one of the protected characteristics.

Those convicted of aggravated charges would face stiffer penalties.

“It would be a complete change,” said the judge. “It would be a sea change in terms of attitude, because it would mean the police, for example, would have to take the hate element into account when investigating the crime.”

Judge Marrinan also examined the issue of hate speech as it applies to the offence of stirring up hatred under public order laws.

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He said the director of public prosecutions should be personally involved in any decisions to prosecute such offences, given the need to ensure the rights of freedom of expression are protected.

The judge said he had sought to ensure all his recommendations reflected the need to protect free speech, noting that religious groups had voiced concerns of a “chilling effect”. He also recommended the creation of a hate crime commissioner.

Asked if people who express dissent on transgenderism could find themselves prosecuted, Mr Marrinan said: “100% absolutely not.”

He cited the case of ex-police officer Harry Miller from Humberside who strongly disagreed with a transgender person on Twitter last year. Police visited him at work about the matter, but the High Court later found the police response unlawful.

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