Religious Hate
Crime and Discrimination
Incitement to Religious Hatred
Following the Home Secretary’s announcement in
his speech to the Institute of Public Policy Research
on 7th July 2004, the Government has introduced protection
against extremists who stir up hatred against people
because of their religious beliefs or lack of religious
beliefs. The new protection is being brought forward
as part of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill.
This offence expands on the existing incitement to
racial hatred offences and will close the unacceptable
loophole that mono-ethnic faith groups are protected
from incited hatred whereas multi-ethnic faith groups
are not.
It will not interfere with legitimate debate or religious
activities. The proposed and existing offences both
carry a high threshold in order to protect freedom of
speech. Offensive words/actions must be threatening,
abusive or insulting and must either be intended or
likely to stir up hatred. Hatred is a strong term going
beyond simply causing offence or hostility. The hatred
must be aimed at people who are members of that group
not ideologies. All prosecutions also require the consent
of the Attorney General. The provisions accord with,
and operate in the light of, the guarantees afforded
by the Human Rights Act and the European Convention
on Human Rights.
The protection has been requested by key leaders in
all the major faith communities and has been subject
to detailed consideration over the past three years.
It will provide a powerful response and strong deterrent
against the activities of extremists who threaten the
our communitie
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Incitement to religious hatred -
written ministerial statement
Following the introduction of proposals to protect
against extremists who stir up hatred against people
because of their religious beliefs or lack of religious
beliefs, the former Home Secretary provided a Written
Ministerial Statement at the second reading of the
Bill to further clarify the Government's reasons for
introducing the provisions. A link to the document can
be found below
Religiously-Aggravated Offences
The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 introduced
nine new religiously-aggravated offences, expanding
on the existing racially-aggravated
offences introduced in the Crime and Disorder Act
1998. These new offences, which include assault, criminal
damage and harassment, make available to the courts
higher maximum penalties where there is evidence of
religious hostility surrounding the offence.
This means that purely religious groups, such as Muslims
and Christians, are now offered the same protection
against attacks as was available previously to racial
groups (which the courts have ruled to include Jews
and Sikhs).
Advice for those affected by religious
crime
If you feel that you have been a victim of religious crime
you should contact the police.
The Police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) want victims,
witnesses and their families, as well as the general public,
to be confident that they understand the serious nature
of this type of crime. They want people to know what they
can expect when the CPS prosecute religious crime. The
CPS have produced helpful guidance
explaining their policy on prosecuting cases with a racist
or religious element. Amongst other helpful information
the document includes a table listing the current racially/religiously-aggravated
offence provisions by type of offence. This also shows
the maximum penalties available to the courts for both
the basic and aggravated forms of each of the offences.
They have also produced a shorter summary
leaflet. Back
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Other Information
In June 2003 a House of Lords Select Committee published
a Report
on Religious Offences in England and Wales. Although
the Report makes no formal recommendations, it contains
a detailed analysis of the current religious offence
provisions in England and Wales. Topics examined include
the present blasphemy laws, incitement, race and religion
as aggravating factors in sentencing, and the issue
of hate crime. The Home Office subsequently published
a response
to the Report.
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