“The Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024: Interpretative challenges and policy inconsistencies”

Hate crime legislation was introduced in Ireland for the first time in 2024 through the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024, which was preceded by the adoption at the Council of Europe of a new Recommendation on combating hate crime. This article will consider the 2024 Act in the context of the Recommendation as well as the Scottish Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 which clearly informed the drafting process. While the principles underpinning the introduction of hate crime legislation are sound, the implementation of those principles will require consideration. We speculate on the potential outcome of that scrutiny, concluding that while the principles underpinning the introduction of hate crime legislation are sound, the implementation of those principles is an egregious and, in recent years, unusual, example of British legislation being “emblazoned with the harp”.