Jennifer Schweppe

Hate studies; hate crime; access to justice.

LA6192 - Hate Crime

LA4073 - Introduction to Criminal Justice

LA4068 - Crime and Criminal Justice

LA4321 - Gender, Sexuality and the Law

LA4048 - Advanced Lawyering 2

Professor Jennifer Schweppe, BCL (European Legal Studies), LLM (Research), Grad Dip (Academic Practice) PhD (she/her) is a Professor in the School of Law the University of Limerick, and co-Director of the European Centre for the Study of Hate at that Institution. Her research focuses on the intersection of law and social justice, and her commitment to understanding and addressing the challenges faced by marginalized groups in law has been a driving force throughout her career. 

Jennifer is an award-winning teacher, who won the small-group teaching award at the University of Limerick in in 2010. She was also awarded a National Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Irish National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning in 2011 and was shortlisted as a finalist for the European Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2012. She is co-author of How to Think, Write and Cite: Key Skills for Irish Law Students and was co-founder and co-author of OSCOLA Ireland, the standard system of citation for Irish law.

Jennifer’s research explores the relationship between minority communities and criminal justice institutions, particularly through the lens of hate crime and access to justice. She has published widely in the area of hate crime, and is co-editor of two major collections in the area: The Globalisation of Hate, with Oxford University Press in 2016 (with co-editor Mark Walters); and Critical Perspectives on Hate Crime, with Palgrave in 2017 (with co-editors Amanda Haynes and Seamus Taylor). She has published key articles major international peer reviewed journals including Criminology and Criminal Justice; Criminal Justice Policy Review; Crime, Law and Social Change; Journal of Hate Studies; and the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. With Professor Mark Walters, she was co-founder (in 2013) of the International Network for Hate Studies and she was co-director of the INHS from 2013-2023. She now sits on its Advisory Board. She is an academic advisor to the Coalition Against Hate Crime, a civil society coalition whose Members represent groups commonly targeted by hate crime.

Her work in the area of hate crime with Professor Amanda Haynes has been funded by the Irish Research Council, the Horizon 2020,  and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Jennifer and Amanda were co-PIs on two ground-breaking projects: the EU DG Justice funded project Lifecycle of a Hate Crime; and the award-winning IRC/IHREC funded project “Irish Travellers Access to Justice”. Jennifer and Amanda were awarded the Eva Lassman Take Action Against Hate award in 2022 by the Gonzaga University Institute for Hate Studies.

Jennifer was appointed as by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe as Independent Expert on Hate Crime to its Committee of Experts on Hate Crime, tasked by the Committee of Ministers with drafting the comprehensive Recommendation on combating hate crime. The Recommendation was adopted in 2024. 

Jennifer was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Irish Judicial Studies Journal in 2025. The IJSJ is a peer-reviewed legal publication interfacing between the judges, legal practitioners, and academics. It is published under the auspices of the Office of the Chief Justice of Ireland, and Jennifer works with the The Hon Mr Justice Brian Murray of the Supreme Court of Ireland, in producing the journal. As one of her first initiatives, she appointed the first Irish language editor to an Irish legal journal, to promote the use of the our first official language in legal discourses.  

Jennifer hasn't found the time to update her Pure profile with all her publications, so for a full account of her research output, see her Google Scholar profile