Lawmakers fear that crimes fuelled by prejudice could be a ‘hidden problem’ in the Island.
At least six new offences have been drafted in a proposed new Crime (Prejudice and Public Order) Law that are aimed at stifling people who wish to stir up hatred against people of different races, religions, sexualities or those who are disabled or identify as transgender.
The proposed new offences, which are now open to public consultation, include:
- Using threatening, abusive or insulting words or displaying such written material.
- Publishing or distributing hateful written material.
- Publishing hateful material on television, radio or on a digital platform –
whether sound or images.
- Possessing hateful material.
The proposals could provide prosecutors with more clarity when dealing with offences involving hate speech on social media.
Increased sentences for existing crimes ‘wholly or partly motivated’ by prejudice could also be handed down to offenders under the new draft law. The exact degree of additional punishment has not yet been put forward.
Yesterday, figures released in the UK showed a 10% rise in reported hate offences in England and Wales over 2018 and this year.
Stephen Regal, the head of the Island’s Jewish community, said combating the ‘fuelling of hate’ by focusing on those who stir up prejudice was vital. He said it did not take much to turn the ‘upstanding member of society into an animal’.
‘Humans are pack animals and they want to belong to a group,’ he said.
‘You only have to look at what happened in Bulgaria with the England football team to know that prejudice and racism is alive. It’s true that we don’t have large-scale racial abuse issues in Jersey but it is so important that we are alive to it and we are aware that this behaviour exists and that if such a problem rears its head here we have the legislation to deal with it.’
According to consultation documents, 27 European states, as well as New
Zealand, the USA, Brazil, Canada, Australia and Chile have dedicated hate crime laws.
The document adds that having such legislation ‘will make it clear that such crimes are not acceptable’ and show minority communities ‘that society recognises those offences for what they are’ as well as ‘demonstrate the Island’s commitments to global efforts’.
The document stresses that ‘no offence is committed if a person honestly does not mean to threaten, abuse or insult another, or if they have no reason to suspect that material that they possess or display is threatening, abusive or insulting.’
It adds that: ‘None of these offences are intended to prohibit or restrict discussion or criticism of religions or beliefs. People will still be free to dislike, ridicule, or even insult the religious beliefs of others, or to try to convince them to embrace, convert or abandon religion. Likewise, discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or of views on the institution of marriage will not be limited by the draft law.’
The consultation, which is open until the start of December, is available to view on the government website gov.je.
