Irish law and EU proscription of terrorist organisations.

political analyst

I've heard of incidents in Dublin recently in which the flags of Hamas and the PFLP, which are terrorist organisations proscribed by the EU, were shown openly by pro-Palestine protesters.

Is it possible to prosecute for the flying of those flags in this country under Irish law?

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058369919/irish-law-and-eu-proscription-of-terrorist-organisations

No. There are no laws in Ireland prohibiting the flying of any flags. The only flag that attracts any legal regulation at all is the national flag, and event the legal rules around the national flag are not enforced by any penalties.

(Plus, for the record, SFAIK Hamas doesn't have an officially-adopted flag — it has adopted other symbols, but not a flag. Hamas supporters will sometimes display a green flag with the shahada on it in white, but that flag symbolises either Islam or Islamism, and is also used in contexts which have nothing to do with Hamas.)

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122648090#Comment_122648090

Charlie Flanagan, according to the following post on his account on X (formerly Twitter) at 5:31 PM today, thinks that displaying the flags of terrorist organisations is illegal in this country.

https://x.com/CharlieFlanagan/status/1855302144225845654

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122821229#Comment_122821229

I can't read the tweet. What does it say?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122825613#Comment_122825613

The below.

Charlie Flanagan@CharlieFlanagan The open display in Dublin of flags & banners of terrorist organisations is illegal & contrary to the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005, the Offences against the State Act 1939, & Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. I have urged Gardai to enforce the law.

Peregrinus

Thanks, Con747.

I think Charlie is hyperventilating a bit, to be honest.

There's nothing in the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 that makes it an offence to "display the flags of terrorist organisations". That Act does create offences, but they are along the lines of hostage-taking, terrorist bombing, financing of terrorism, etc. The Act is directed at the actual operations of terrorist organisations, not at people expressiong support for causes that are being advanced by terrorist means.

The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 has nothing to say about flags, banners or symbols. It does make it an offence to:

"use words, behave or display written material . . . or distribute, show or play a recording . . . if the written material, words, behaviour, visual images or sounds . . . are threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or, having regard to all the circumstances, are likely to stir up hatred"

I suppose you could argue that a flag is "written material", but I don't think it's an argument that would get very far in court. You could say that displaying a flag is "behaving", which it is, but then you'd have to argue that the flag itself was "threatening, abusive or insulting", and that displaying it was "likely to stir up hatred". But, in the context of a criminal provision, these arguments cannot succeed. If the Oireachtas wants to criminalise particular behaviour it has to do so in very clear terms.

Simlarly, the Offences Against the State Act 1939 also has nothing in it about flags or banners. But it does have s. 27(1):

It shall not be lawful to hold a public meeting which is held or purports to be held by or on behalf of or by arrangement or in concert with an unlawful organisation or which is held or purports to be held for the purpose of supporting, aiding, abetting, or encouraging an unlawful organisation or of advocating the support of an unlawful organisation.

It could be that this is what Charlies is driving at and that his mention of flags is a giant red herring. Or maybe he's goin to argue that, by flying the flag of a terrorist organisation, you're trying to give the impression that your meeting is held by or on behalf of that organisation. Again, I don't think it's an argument likely to succeed. But you couldn't even run it unless you could show that the flag was displayed by the meeting organisers, as opposed to being displayed by someone attending the meeting.