The Law Commission has released a consultation paper on whether a specific offence of hate crime should be created, as recommended by the Royal Commission into the Christchurch mosques terrorist attack.
The consultation seeks feedback on the current method of handling hate crime, in which an offender’s hate motivation is taken into account at sentencing, as well as canvassing other options such as a specific criminal offence.
It does not examine the issue of hate speech, which was part of a separate workstream undertaken by the commission which has now been dropped.
The consultation can be viewed here. Submissions are open until March 13 and a further review with stakeholders, including the legal profession, is planned before a final report is submitted to Parliament in mid-2026
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