Ireland Imposes Draconian ‘Hate’ Laws
It’s common, I think, for Americans to imagine Ireland as a quaint holdover from the 20th century — a lush, green island dappled with farms, leprechauns, and friendly pubs. It may, therefore, be a surprise to learn that the Emerald Isle has just passed some of the most extreme, expansive “hate crime” legislation in the civilized world.
On Thursday, Ireland’s chief legislative body, the Dáil Éireann, approved the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) bill, which was itself an adaptation of the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) bill. I covered the latter piece of legislation for The American Spectator early last year, shortly after moving to Ireland. Luckily, it was shelved by the government after its draconian provisions drew international scrutiny and public backlash. Instead, Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee amended some of the more egregiously alarming segments of the bill, waited a year, and then forced it through the Dáil.
The Dáil is slated to be dissolved shortly, ahead of Ireland’s next general election. Given the fact that conservative figures and parties have been gaining momentum in Ireland over the past year in particular, McEntee clearly wanted to ensure that her Orwellian pet project wouldn’t be taken behind the proverbial woodshed by an incoming conservative government. On Thursday evening, five priority bills were forced through the Dáil in less than six hours. Among them was the controversial Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) bill.
Critics (including myself) warned that the original piece of legislation would criminalize peaceful protests and demonstrations, outlaw pro-life speaking and prayer, and prosecute “thought crimes,” including privately held sentiments that could be deemed “hateful.” Those criticisms still stand. The only changes McEntee made to the sweeping legislation were removing the criminalization of “incitement to hatred and violence,” given that incitement to violence was already addressed under Irish law, and certain provision regarding “hate speech.” The justice minister did, however, ominously imply that she would continue pursuing those objectives.
As it stands, the new Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) bill, which is slated to be signed into law pending the approval of Ireland’s other legislative body, the Seanad Éireann, increases penalties for crimes based on the presence of a “hate” element against a “protected class.” In other words, an individual convicted of assault or battery would face a stiffer penalty if it was found that he harbored or expressed “hatred” toward the person he assaulted or battered on the basis of a “protected characteristic.” Those “protected characteristics” include race, color, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, gender, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, and disability.
The legislation also includes a drastic redefinition of “gender.” According to the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) bill, “gender” now legally means the “gender of a person or the gender which a person expresses as the person’s preferred gender or with which the person identifies and includes transgender and a gender other than those of male and female.” Irish legal scholar and professor emeritus at University College Dublin Gerard Casey previously criticized the legislation’s definition of “gender,” saying that “it manifestly fails, for no coherent attempt to define a term ‘X’ can include X in the proposed definition.” This same principle, he said, applied to the bill’s definition of “hate.” Casey stated:
We are told, “‘hatred’ means hatred against a person or a group of persons in the State or elsewhere on account of their protected characteristics or any one of those characteristics.” If this is meant as a definition, it fails utterly. But if not, where is a definition of hatred to be found in the Bill?
In comments to The American Spectator, Irish Freedom Party founder and president, Hermann Kelly, explained, “This is a dangerous and tyrannical law which robs all citizens of equality before the law. Instead, it gives legal privileges to identity groups selected by the government and makes heterosexual Irish men and women second class citizens in their own country.” He added, “I believe it’s unconstitutional and should be repealed when a commonsense nationalist government gets into power.”
The bill was passed 78 votes to 52. In the Dáil, critics noted the vague and expansive terminology used in the legislation. Matt Carthy of the Sinn Féin party criticized the legislation’s absence of “simple and clear definitions,” while independent Mattie McGrath called the leftist legislation “a half-baked vanity project.”
READ MORE from S.A. McCarthy:
Cardinal Burke Offers Guidance for Catholic Voters
Trump, McDonald’s, and the Lost Art of Noblesse Oblige
The post Ireland Imposes Draconian ‘Hate’ Laws appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.