The law on hate crime

The purpose of this paper is to inform readers about the Law Commission's review of hate crime offences and provide information on key stages. At the time of writing the review is at consultation stage and people are being invited to participate in this process.

The paper is structured in a question and answer format and provides an overview of existing hate crime offences and the stages of the Law Commission's review.

The consultation will consider the effect of the Law Commission's review of hate crime law on people with disabilities.

The author is a member of the Law Commission's criminal law team and answers questions on what's involved in the consultation process. The Law Commission wants to make sure that people who could be affected by any changes to the law on hate crime have their say.