Brief summary of our views:
Justitia put forth its views in the framework of a public consultation on amendments proposed to hate crime laws in England and Wales. Ourmain points of argument which were: (i) The freedom of expression implications of the consultation paper (ii) the integration of speech and actual physical violence under one law (iii) the lacking necessity of intent in relation to the former in some instances (iv) the particularly low thresholds attached to racial insults (v) the conflict between some of the recommendations and International Human Rights Law (vi) the variation of thresholds amongst protected characteristics (vii) the suitability of criminal law as a means to tackle prejudice and hate (viii) and the negative impact of the proposed amendments on ‘minorities’ (ix) the impact of the amendments on an already polarized climate.
Read the full consultation response here.