In a letter to the Irish Government, the European Commission said that shortcomings in Irish law meant the courts were not in a position to factor in racist or xenophobic motivation as an aggravating factor in a criminal offence

Govt told to bring racism legislation in line with EU law

by · RTE.ie

The European Commission has ordered the Irish Government to bring its legislation into line with an EU law on combating racism and xenophobia, stating that Irish courts were not considering racist hatred or xenophobia as a motive by those carrying out crimes, including Holocaust denial.

In a letter to the Irish Government, the commission said that shortcomings in Irish law meant the courts were not in a position to factor in racist or xenophobic motivation as an aggravating factor in a criminal offence.

Announcing the so-called "letter of formal notice", the commission said that Ireland "has not fully transposed the provisions related to incitement to hatred or violence, including the condoning, denial or gross trivialisation of international crimes and the Holocaust".

In the letter, the commission states that Irish law either does not - or does not correctly - qualify racist or xenophobic motivation as aggravating factors for all criminal offences or ensure that national courts can take this motivation into account when issuing sentences.

The Government has two months to respond to the letter and to "address the shortcomings", according to a commission statement.

Under EU rules, if Ireland's response is not satisfactory, the commission can escalate through what is called a "reasoned opinion", the last step before a referral to the European Court of Justice.

The commission has also sent "reasoned opinions" to both Bulgaria and Estonia for a similar alleged failure to bring national laws into line with EU law on combating racism and xenophobia.

Today’s infringement notice against Ireland relates to a 2008 law adopted by member states on combating racism and xenophobia across the EU following seven years of negotiations with the commission and the European Parliament.

Under the "framework decision" all member states, including Ireland, were obliged to transpose the EU rule into national law.

From 2014, the commission has been able to force member states to fully adopt the new law through legal action.