Posts

Showing posts from October, 2020

RELIGION AND "HATE SPEECH": WHY ONE OF LABOUR'S PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE EXISTING LAW IS A REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA

  In the aftermath of the tragedy and horror of the Christchurch mosque attacks of 2020, the New Zealand Government fast tracked a review of “hate speech” legislation, with Justice Minister Andrew Little declaring the extant law to be “woefully inadequate”. The Government then began a process of considering options submitted by the Justice Ministry and Human Rights Commission. There is no obvious problem with extending these protections to gender and sexual minorities or the disabled, but there is when it comes to religion. The usual argument in support of such legislative reform, when advanced in secular democracies that have assented to the relevant UN agreements and declarations runs something like this: Article 20(2) of the  International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPP) 1976 – which New Zealand is a ratified signatory to – provides that “Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shal