Crystal Mackay

Recognizing the need for user-friendly research support for prosecutors to find and analyze case law on hate crimes, researchers from Western’s Faculty of Law and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) teamed up to develop Hate Indicators: A Canadian Hate Crime Case Law Research Tool. The goal of the new tool is to aid in the reporting and prosecution of this type of crime. Hate crimes are criminal offences committed against a person or property that are motivated, in whole or in part, by bias, prejudice or hate. This motivation can be based on a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or similar factors. In Canada, hate crimes are addressed, in part, through subsection 718.2(a)(i) of Criminal Code, which requires judges to consider an increased sentence if a crime was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate. This new tool provides insights and information on more than 15 years of case law and more than a hundred cases where judges have considered that subsection of the Criminal Code. It identifies 14 hate crime indicators that flow from the case law and will help Crown prosecutors quickly find information so they can provide advice to police on investigations, assess charges, identify and present relevant evidence and craft sentencing submissions. The tool can also support defence lawyers and inform training of lawyers and police. “This case law points to the significant negative impact of hate crimes on individuals and entire communities,” said Sunil Gurmukh, law professor and law’s assistant dean (equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization), who led the project in collaboration with CRRF. “Determining whether a crime is motivated by bias, prejudice or hate can be difficult for police and Crown prosecutors alike, so it’s important to have a legal resource to help them do that.” The team included acting law dean Andrew Botterell, CRRF CEO Mohammed Hashim, chief of staff and associate executive director Saswati Deb, director of public policy Fatma Hassan, as well as a group of student research assistants from the Faculty of Law, with support from the communications teams at CRRF and Western.  

Law students gain valuable skills and insight

“We’re very grateful to the CRRF for their partnership on this important tool, one we hope will be a helpful aid in the prosecution of hate crimes,” said Botterell. “This project has also allowed our students to gain a deeper awareness of the negative impact of hate crimes on equity-deserving communities and contribute to real solutions.” For law student Mona Soliman, being involved in this project allowed her to gain practical skills in research and case analysis that she’ll use in her future career as a lawyer. It was also meaningful to her on a personal level. Knowing police and lawyers will have access to this tool to meaningfully help victims and bring justice to perpetrators of hate crimes gives her hope, Soliman said. “It really struck me that it wasn’t one specific group being targeted in these cases. There were a wide range of people from all kinds of backgrounds experiencing hate,” she said. “Reading these cases was really difficult, but it was important to me to contribute to a tool that helps increase access to justice.”

Advancing national efforts to address hate

The tool also advances the work of National Hate Crimes Task Force, whose purpose is to better understand the systemic challenges in addressing hate crimes. The CRRF co-chairs the task force alongside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “The CRRF was thrilled to work with Sunil Gurmukh and his team at the Faculty of Law to develop this important tool. With hate crimes and incidents on the rise in Canada, it has never been more important to ensure there are adequate resources available to support the legal process and make research and knowledge about hate crimes more accessible to the legal community,” said CRRF CEO Mohammed Hashim. The tool identifies 14 factors, or hate crime indicators, considered by judges in past sentencing decisions. At least one of the factors was considered in each case. The team organized them according to the five Ws: who, what, where, when and why. For example, when exploring what happened, judges considered whether a suspect made a derogatory comment about a person’s identity group or a targeted community before, during or after the offence. When assessing who was involved, they factored in whether the suspect was unknown to the victim before the offence. In reviewing where the offence happened, they looked at whether the location targeted a select place within community, such as a place of worship or a gay club. “My hope is that successful prosecution of hate crimes will serve as a deterrent and we can avoid hate crimes in the future. But this is not a magic bullet, there is so much that needs to be done to address hate in Canadian society, including increased education,” said Gurmukh.