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New Zealand Law Commission Hate Crime Discussion Paper

Posted in National, Government; Tagged Justice; Posted 13 months ago by DPA Less than a minute to read

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To: Social Services and Community Committee
Date: January 2025

 

Purpose

The joint submission from Disabled Persons Assembly NZ (DPA) and VisAble asserts that discrimination and prejudice against disabled and D/deaf people are unfortunately commonplace, often manifesting as hate-based crime.

Summary of DPA submission

DPA and VisAble highlight that empirical evidence already indicates that disabled people, D/deaf people, and tāngata whaikaha Māori are subjected to hate-motivated actions, even in the absence of a standalone hate crime offence. 

Hate crime disproportionately affects already marginalised communities, including disabled people.  As disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and D/deaf people are part of communities and families, [meaning that] hate crime impacts on people at an intersectional level.  For example, people who identify as disabled can also identify as, for example, Māori, Pacific, ethnic/refugee, older or LGBTQIA+ people and experience exponentially hate driven acts as the result of being both a disabled person and a member of a marginalised group.

As the Human Rights Commission’s Whakamahia te tūkino kore ināianei, ā muri ake nei: Acting now for a violence and abuse free future report (2021) on the violence and abuse of disabled people in Aotearoa recorded ‘... disabled people who have intersecting marginalisation experience higher rates of violence.’

DPA cited the findings of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care and official government statistics to highlight the disproportionate prevalence of disability-hate based offending and violence in Aotearoa.

 

Key Recommendations:

DPA and VisAble argue that stronger hate crime laws are crucial given rising global hatred and domestic policies perceived as regressive.

 

Recommendation 1: They specifically recommend that the Law Commission advise Government to adopt the "Scottish hybrid model" of hate crime legislation in Aotearoa.

This hybrid model combines aspects of the sentence aggravation model with specific hate crime offences. This means that any offence against an individual can be considered as ‘aggravated by prejudice’ should the circumstances warrant.  

This means that hate crimes can be linked potentially to any offence and not just confined to certain offences.

Recommendation 2: That people targeted due to having the common characteristics of ‘race, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability’ are covered in any future hate crimes legislation.

Recommendation 3:  That vulnerability and hate are considered compounding factors, not either/or, when considering the seriousness of a crime.

Recommendation 4: That judges should set any fines and/or compensation payments ordered of offenders in hate related cases at an appropriate level which reflects the seriousness of the harm perpetrated against victims.

 

Supporting Statement 1:

“Fanslow and Malihi et. al. (referred to in our introduction) highlighted that a significant amount of violence and abuse of disabled people occurs in the community from people with no family ties to the disabled person(s) targeted – causing fear and creating a climate where disabled people are afraid to participate in community life.  This hate motivated violence commonly happens in people’s homes, when, for example, people are denied their preferred ways of communicating or mobility.”

 

Supporting Statement 2:  

“The discussion paper says (5.50) that “In practice, we are not aware of any cases that have applied the hate crime aggravating factor to hostility based on age or disability.” 

 

We believe this is for two reasons:

1.)  That no specific offences exist which identifies these characteristics.

2.)  That older people and disabled people are as invisible in police and justice processes as in the wider community. This means that the justice system does not consider age or disability as a significant hate factor in offending against older and disabled people. 

Naming hate on the grounds of disability as a specific aggravating factor will increase the likelihood of successful prosecutions.  Often disabled people are considered as unreliable witnesses.  Using a hate crime lens will expose this ableism and strengthen the opportunities for disabled people to seek justice.”

 

 

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DPA Submission 2503 New Zealand Law Commission Hate Crime Discussion Paper (DOCX)

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