Peter Tatchell: NI should avoid the mistakes of Scottish hate crime bill

The Scottish Hate Crime Bill aims to create an offence of ‘stirring up hatred’ against protected characteristics, including race, colour, nationality, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity.

However critics claim terms in the bill such as ‘hatred’and ‘abusive’ are subjective and hard to define, that it could lead to offences being committed unintentionally and that people could be prosecuted for words spoken in their own home. The bill is causing serious dissension within the Scottish National Party, which proposed it.

A survey on the matter by Savanta ComRes poll found 69% of Scots agreed that “for a criminal offence to be committed, there must be a proven intention to stir up hatred”.

Retired Northern Ireland judge Desmond Marrinan has conducted a review of hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland and is due to give his report to the Department of Justice this month. The News Letter understands his review has taken the Scottish bill into consideration.

LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who is opposing the Scottish legislation, urged NI to avoid Scotland’s example.

“Northern Ireland should learn from the mistakes made with the Scottish hate crimes bill,” he told the News Letter. “It should require proof of intent to stir hate, limit the bill’s scope to public places and not criminalise insults or actions that are merely ‘likely’ to stir hatred. There should also be a clause guaranteeing freedom of expression. The same caveats should apply to the possession of inflammatory materials.”

Patrick Corrigan, Head of Nations & Regions with Amnesty International also urged caution.

“Human rights law both prohibits discrimination and protects freedom of expression,” he said.

“People in Northern Ireland were free to criticise marriage equality before it was law. They can still criticise or disagree with it now that it has become law. That is as it should be.

“But it is also crucial, for instance, that LGBT+ people or members of ethnic minorities, should be protected from homophobic or racist incitement to violence.  

“That is the careful balance which Judge Desmond Marrinan will have to strike in his review of hate crime legislation, which we will examine in detail when it is published.”

Christian Institute Deputy Director Simon Calvert said that expert opinion already held that NI hate crime legislation is open to abuse.

“We took legal advice on the Marrinan Review from Ivan Hare, a world-renowned expert on freedom of speech. His advice confirms that Northern Ireland law is already open to misuse by those who want to shut down debate, and that introducing swathes of new ‘hate crimes’ would make the situation much, much worse.

“The Scottish Government has faced the most extraordinary push back after announcing its own new hate crime proposals. Lawyers, police officers, academics, commentators on the left and the right, feminists, Atheists, Christians, civil liberty groups and even Rowan Atkinson and John Cleese all warned that their draft ‘stirring up hatred’ offences pose a dangerous threat to free speech. The hate crime Bill has been dubbed the ‘most hated’ in the history of the Scottish Parliament.

“The Northern Ireland Executive must study the controversy in Scotland very carefully before it considers whether to try to legislate in this very fraught area.”

During his review, Mr Marrinan raised concerns after government promised to extend GB freedom of speech protections in relation to same sex marriage to Northern Ireland, as his review was ongoing.

He said his report will look at whether specific freedom of speech protections are needed in NI hate crime legislation or whether it should simply rely on Freedom of Expression protections in the European Convention of Human Rights.

Although the Rainbow Project and Amnesty International and Peter Tatchell voiced broad support for GB protections being extended to NI, the judge said that the English Law Commission is now reviewing “whether or not their protections for criticism of religion and same sex marriage should be retained in their law or whether or not”.

He added that those who argue against them being retained in England “argue they encourage homophobia”.

And while he has “no particular view at the moment” on this question, he said, because the English Law commission is reviewing the matter “I thought, well we should do the same, we should at least look at whether or not they are worthwhile. Maybe they are.”

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