asked the Minister for Justice whether race relations legislations is necessary in this country having regard to the activities of fringe groups such as the NSIWP; and how soon it is intended to publish and circulate such legislation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Race Relations Legislation.
11.
Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence be prohibited by law. The nature of the legislation necessary to give effect to this provision is being considered urgently in the context of ratification of the Covenant.
While I would stress that work on the preparation of this legislation is proceeding as a matter of urgency, I want to make it clear that the matter is more complex than might appear at first sight. It might be relatively easy to prohibit the grosser forms of incitement to racial hatred but the scope of the provision in the Covenant is very wide indeed and its implementation has to be reconciled with the right to freedom of expression, which is also recognised by the Covenant itself and is, of course, guaranteed by the Constitution. In this connection I would mention that a number of countries whose legal systems resemble our own (I am talking here about the major common law countries) have experienced difficulty in either legislating for Article 20 of the Covenant at all or in doing so in anything other than a fairly limited, public order context.
I cannot, therefore, at this stage give a definite date for publication of the legislation but I hope that it will be in the near future.
I draw the Minister's attention to the fact that a small group of head cases operating under the style of the NSIWP are regularly sending anti-Semitic literature to Members of this House and also to members of the Jewish community in Dublin. They are distributing racist literature which is extremely distressing to foreign students, in particular, who are guests of this country. In the light of the fact that the Minister's Department have been preparing legislation in this area for approximately four years, I would ask the Minister to expedite matters so as to ensure that the legislation is published, circulated and passed by the Oireachtas during the next few months.
I am aware of the activities of the group to which Deputy Shatter has referred and I have seen a lot of their literature. It has not been the case that we have found it possible to prosecute on the basis of the law as it is, but I assure Deputy Shatter and the House that this legislation will be brought forward at the most rapid pace possible, having regard to the considerations I outlined in the original reply.