Hate crime and legal process: options for law reform

The aim of this study was to assess the application of criminal laws and sentencing provisions for hate crime in England and Wales (Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA), ss. 28- 32, and the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA), ss. 145 and 146) in order to capture best practices and identify barriers to the implementation of these rules. The study was carried out over a 24-month period and used a multitude of sources, both secondary and primary, to answer a number of key questions that were first set out by the Law Commission’s 2014 report on hate crime law reform, as well as other questions set out as part of an EU cross jurisdictional project.