THE LEGAL TREATMENT OF HATE SPEECH AND HATE CRIME IN IRELAND AND SPAIN: A COMPARATIVE CRIMINAL LAW PERSPECTIVE

This article attempts to carry out a comparative analysis between the criminal legislation of Ireland and Spain in the field of hate speech and hate crime. In order to do so, the criminal laws in charge of providing legal coverage to the object of study will be evaluated. In the Irish case, the bill published in 2022 attempts to answer to the shadows and questions still posed by the Prohibition of incitement to Hatred Act 1989, trying to find a balance between the need to provide criminal protection for the conducts included in the aforementioned offences and the convenience of preserving the right to freedom of expression. As far as Spain is concerned, the regulation of Article 510 of the Penal Code will be analysed, including the new features introduced by the latest reform carried out in this regard in July 2022.