Gap in Jersey law on hate crimes must be addressed - home affairs minister

Legislation to address crime motivated by hatred or prejudice against groups of people has not yet been introduced in Jersey

A gap in the law on hate crimes on Jersey "must be addressed", the home affairs minister says.

Deputy Mary Le Hegarat said "very careful consideration" needed to be given to balance punishing crime and protecting free speech.

She added that the situation needed to be addressed so Jersey would "meet its present international obligations".

There were 36 hate crimes in Jersey relating to racism in 2023, government data showed.

Martin Aliga, who has worked on hate crime campaigns, said he continued to suffer abuse.

He said one individual had "racially assaulted" him 10 times since May 2023.

Mr Aliga said he worried for his children because of the lack of legal protections

Mr Aliga said he worried his children could be more vulnerable without protection in law.

He said: "The children we are bringing up - interracial children - are even at more risk when such parameters are not put into measure, when such laws are not in place.

"They are vulnerable for just being interracial."

Government politicians discussed a change in legislation in 2013.

The then social security minister senator Francis Le Gresley said the legislation would be introduced in stages, starting in 2014.

'Very careful consideration'

Ms Le Hegarat said that, unlike most jurisdictions, Jersey had not yet introduced legislation to address crime motivated by hatred or prejudice against groups of people, and said there were no customary law offences which expressly covered this area.

She said: "This is a gap that must be addressed in order for Jersey to meet its present international obligations."

Ms Le Hegarat said it was "important that a modern, diverse society such as Jersey should provide adequate protection from such fundamentally unacceptable behaviour as hate speech and stirring up hatred or prejudice."

She added: "Having appropriate legislation in place to address such behaviour would clearly re-enforce Jersey's commitment to equality, reflected recently in the introduction and gradual extension of the Discrimination (Jersey) Law 2013."

The minister said "very careful consideration" would need to be given to the balance between the protection of free speech and any legitimate public interests the offence might pursue.