Hate crime and the “justice gap”: the case for law reform

This article presents key findings from an EU-funded two-year empirical study into the legal process for hate crime undertaken in England and Wales. The study is the first large-scale review of hate crime legislation since the Home Office review of racially aggravated offences in 2001-2002. This article is one of a series of papers which collectively examine the legal process for hate crime, from evidence gathering through to criminal procedure, legal interpretation and sentencing. We start from the position that hate crime legislation is a crucial mechanism through which identity-based hostility offences must be addressed. Notwithstanding the many criticisms that can be levelled against governments who focus primarily on punitive legislative measures to tackle what is a highly complex social phenomena, there are compelling reasons for legislating against hate which are now well-rehearsed within the extant literature and which will be discussed in more detail below, when outlining the justifications for law reform. The focus of this article is an evaluation of how hate crime laws are currently being applied in practice, to identify limitations in their application, and to determine whether and how hate crime laws should be reformed to improve their effective application.