Your Rights: Right of free expression: Criminal law restrictions on freedom of expression: Racial hatred

The Public Order Act 1986 contains the offences of inciting or stirring up racial hatred. It prohibits the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displaying any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting with the intention of stirring up racial hatred or where racial hatred is likely to be stirred up.

Racial hatred is defined as hatred against a group of persons in the United Kingdom defined by reference to colour, race, nationality - including citizenship - or ethnic or national origins.

An offence may be committed in a public or a private place. No offence is committed however, where the words or behaviour are used, or the written material is displayed, by a person inside a dwelling and are not heard or seen except by other persons in that or another dwelling. The inadvertent use of words that are threatening, abusive or insulting is not an offence. A police officer may arrest without a warrant anyone he or she reasonably suspects is committing the offence.

There are other offences of publishing or distributing material; presenting or directing a play; distributing, showing or playing visual images or sounds; broadcasting a television programme, except programmes transmitted by the BBC; or distributing a cable programme with the same characteristics - that is, being threatening, abusive or insulting - and which is either intended to stir up racial hatred or likely to have this effect.

In addition, it is an offence to possess racially inflammatory material unless ignorant of its contents. The police can obtain a search warrant for such material and magistrates can order its forfeiture.

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 gave statutory force to the idea of ‘racially aggravated offences’, and in 2001 this Act was amended to include religiously aggravated offences. Racially or religiously aggravated offences include assault, criminal damage, public order offences and harassment. An offence is racially or religiously aggravated if:

At the time of committing the offence, or immediately before or after doing so, the offender demonstrates towards the victim of the offence hostility based on the victim’s membership – or presumed membership – of a racial or religious group.
The offence is motivated wholly or partly by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group based on their membership of that group.

If a person is convicted of the racially or religiously aggravated form of assault, criminal damage, public order offence or harassment, then the court has increased sentencing powers. In relation to other offences, if the offence is racially or religiously aggravated the court is required to treat it as an aggravating factor, that is, a factor that increases the seriousness of the offence.

Racial Hatred