James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their amendments, which I understand were discussed at length. I note the Deputy is withdrawing amendment No. 1. The Attorney General has further advised on rules about statutory interpretation. The Supreme Court has consistently held that statutory provisions should be given a construction that reflects the plain intention of the Oireachtas and that this should be determined by having regard to the ordinary, natural meaning of words. In determining the meaning of any word or phrase in statute, the first question to ask is what is the natural, ordinary meaning of the word or phrase in its context and in the statute. The definition of "hatred" as currently set out in the Bill represents the word's ordinary meaning and everyday meaning and is established in terms of the Statute Book as evidence by the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act of 1989.

It is worth noting that in UK jurisdictions that have an offence of stirring up hatred, that is, incitement or hate speech, hatred is not defined except to make it referrable to certain characteristics, as is the case in our law. Similarly, in the European Council framework decision with which this legislation has to align, hatred is only defined in the context of making it referrable to certain characteristics. In respect of hate crime offences in other jurisdictions, these offences are aggravated by different terms, such as hostility in Northern Ireland, England and Wales, and malice and ill-will in Scotland. In all of these cases, the terms "hostility" and "malice and ill-will" are not defined in relevant statutes. On this basis, the Attorney General has advised against any amendments to the Bill with regard to the meaning of hatred. I agree with this advice. Hatred is a concept that is well understood by our courts. It is fair and correct for us to place our faith in the criminal justice professionals whose duty it is to interpret and apply legislation decided on by the Oireachtas.

In respect of the offence of incitement of violence or hatred in section 7, the proposal to amend the wording of the offence to remove all reference to hatred and insert references to incitement of violence, intimidation, hostility or discrimination, I remind Deputies that transposition into Irish law of the European Council framework decision on combating certain forms and expression of racism and xenophobia is a key aim of this Bill, as set out in the Long Title. An offence of incitement to hatred is an requirement under this framework. If it is not set out in this manner in the text of the offence, the requirements of the framework decision are not fulfilled. For those reasons, I cannot accept the amendments.

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