Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah, Assistant Professor of criminal Law and criminal evidence, has co-authored a report, Hate Crime and the Legal Process: options for law reform. The report recommends a new Hate Crime Act to consolidate the existing fragmented framework of legislation, equalise treatment of protected characteristics, and address the vast ‘justice gap’. Last year, out of an estimated 110,000 hate crimes which were reported to the police, only four percent went on to receive a declared sentence uplift under hate crime legislation after conviction.
The report follows a 24 month empirical study on the prosecution and sentencing of hate crime which found that, while vast improvements have been made over the past 10-15 years, there remain significant inadequacies in relation to: the collation of evidence; procedural decision making; legal interpretation of the statutory provisions; and sentencing practices. The authors found that hate crime laws are too frequently ignored or incorrectly applied by the courts. Without legal reform, along with amendments to procedure and new options for alternative justice, the authors believe that many victims and defendants will be denied justice.