Senator Rónán Mullen. Senator Mullen has voiced opposition to legislation that has come before the Seanad, viewing it as being full of errors and “dangerous to the legitimate freedom of human expression”.
The Criminal Justice (Hate Crime) Bill 2020, was initiated on November 6, and seeks to provide that a court may impose the maximum penalty for offences where it is judged that the offence was aggravated by ‘hate crime’ which is defined as an offence that is perceived as being based on prejudices towards certain categories of person.
This includes prejudice towards people on the grounds of an “individual’s asylum or refugee status, race, colour, religion, nationality, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity, sex characteristics, age or perceived age”.
Senator Rónán Mullen has said that while he understands what the proponents of the Bill are trying to do, which is send the message that identity-based prejudice has no place in Irish society, the Bill as it’s drafted is “confused, erratic and counter-productive”.
“For example, the drafters of the Bill appear to be unclear whether ‘hate crime’ is an offence motivated by certain prejudice or simply a perceived attitude of prejudice contributing to an offence,” he said.