Hate crimes and the law

A chara, – Amanda Haynes and Jennifer Schweppe (“Amendments to hate crime Bill needed to avoid pitfalls”, Opinion & Analysis, November 10th) state that: “There is no requirement that the prosecution prove that they committed the crime because they were motivated by hatred” but rather that they can commit the crime for any reason but can be convicted if they have been shown to demonstrate hatred towards a group named in the legislation.

In other words, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty is removed.

Worryingly, they predict that the courts will have to deal with many more hate crimes cases because the definition is so broad.

Given the lack of a requirement to provide proof of hatred as motive, these prosecutions will ultimately come down to whether the judge or jury like the cut of the defendant’s jib or not. – Is mise,

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DAVE SLATER,

Kilkea,

Co Kildare.