The European Commission, which asserts that Irish courts were not considering racist hate or xenophobia as a motive by individuals carrying out crimes, including Holocaust denial, has ordered the Irish Government to align its legislation with an EU regulation on fighting racism and xenophobia, reports RTE.
The committee stated in a letter to the Irish Government that the courts were unable to consider xenophobic or racial motivation as an aggravating circumstance in a criminal crime due to deficiencies in Irish legislation.
Announcing the so-called “letter of formal notice”, the commission noted 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”, reports RTE.
In the letter, the commission notes that Irish legislation either does not – or does not appropriately – classify racist or xenophobic motive as aggravating elements for all criminal crimes or ensure that national courts can take this motivation into consideration when delivering punishments.
As stated in a commission statement, the Government has two months to reply to the letter and “address the shortcomings”.
As the final stage before referring a case to the European Court of Justice, the commission is permitted by EU regulations to escalate through a “reasoned opinion” in the event that Ireland’s answer is deemed insufficient, reports RTE.
In response to similar accusations that national legislation on the fight against racism and xenophobia do not align with EU law, the commission has also sent “reasoned opinions” to Estonia and Bulgaria.
The 2008 statute that member states approved to combat racism and xenophobia throughout the EU after seven years of deliberations with the European Parliament and the commission is the subject of today’s violation notice against Ireland.
All member states, including Ireland, were required under the “framework decision” to incorporate the EU regulation into their national laws.
Beginning in 2014, the commission has the legal authority to compel member states to enact the new law in its entirety, reports RTE.
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