NOTICES OF AMENDMENTS
given up to and including
Friday 27th January 2006
New Amendments handed in are marked thus *
CONSIDERATION OF LORDS AMENDMENTS
RACIAL AND RELIGIOUS HATRED BILL
On Consideration of Lords Amendments to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill
Lords Amendment No. 2
Mr Secretary Clarke
To move, That this House disagrees with the Lords in their Amendment.
Lords Amendment No. 4
Mr Secretary Clarke
To move, That this House disagrees with the Lords in their Amendment.
Mr Secretary Clarke
To move the following Amendments to the Bill in lieu of the Lords Amendments 2 and 4:—
(a)
Leave out the Schedule and insert the following new Schedule:—
'Hatred against persons on racial or religious grounds
| 1 | | The Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64) has effect subject to the following amendments. |
| 2 | | For the heading for Part 3 substitute "Hatred against persons on racial grounds". |
| 3 | | In section 18 (use of words or behaviour or display of written material) for subsection (1)(b) substitute— |
| "(b) | having regard to all the circumstances, the words are, or the behaviour or material is, likely to be heard or seen by any person in whom they are, or it is, likely to stir up racial hatred." |
| 4 | | In section 19 (publishing or distributing written material) for subsection (1)(b) substitute— |
| "(b) | having regard to all the circumstances, the material is likely to be seen by any person in whom it is likely to stir up racial hatred." |
| 5 | | In section 20 (public performance of play) for subsection (1)(b) substitute— |
| "(b) | having regard to all the circumstances, the performance is likely to be attended by any person in whom the performance (taken as a whole) is likely to stir up racial hatred." |
| 6 | | In section 21 (distributing, showing or playing a recording) for subsection (1)(b) substitute— |
| "(b) | having regard to all the circumstances, the recording is likely to be heard or seen by any person in whom it is likely to stir up racial hatred." |
| 7 | | In section 22 (broadcasting or including programme in programme service) for subsection (1)(b) substitute— |
| "(b) | having regard to all the circumstances, the programme is likely to be heard or seen by any person in whom it is likely to stir up racial hatred." |
| 8 | | In section 23 (possession of racially inflammatory material)— |
(a) in subsection (1) for the words from "if he intends" onwards substitute "if he intends racial hatred to be stirred up thereby or subsection (1A) applies.", and
(b) after that subsection insert—
| "(1A) | This subsection applies if, having regard to all the circumstances, the material or recording is likely to be heard or seen by any person in whom it is likely to stir up racial hatred." |
| 9 | | In section 24(4)(b) (powers of entry and search: offshore installations) for "as defined in section 1(3)(b)" substitute "within the meaning". |
| 10 | | In section 27 (procedure and punishment) after subsection (2) insert— |
| "(2A) | In proceedings for an offence under this Part in respect of any conduct, it is irrelevant whether racial hatred was in fact stirred up by the conduct in question." |
"Part 3A
Hatred against persons on religious grounds
Meaning of "religious hatred"
29A Meaning of "religious hatred"
In this Part "religious hatred" means hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.
Acts done with intention or recklessness as to stirring up of religious hatred
29B Use of words or behaviour or display of written material
(1) A person who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, is guilty of an offence if—
| (a) | he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred, or |
| (b) | he is reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up thereby. |
(2) An offence under this section may be committed in a public or a private place, except that no offence is committed 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.
(3) In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for the accused to prove that he was inside a dwelling and had no reason to believe that the words or behaviour used, or the written material displayed, would be heard or seen by a person outside that or any other dwelling.
(4) A person who is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred is not guilty of an offence under this section if—
| (a) | he did not intend his words or behaviour, or the written material, to be, and |
| (b) | he was not aware that they, or it, might be, |
threatening, abusive or insulting.
(5) This section does not apply to words or behaviour used, or written material displayed, solely for the purpose of being included in a programme service.
29C Publishing or distributing written material
(1) A person who publishes or distributes written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting is guilty of an offence if—
| (a) | he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred, or |
| (b) | he is reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up thereby. |
(2) In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for an accused who is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred to prove that he was not aware of the content of the material and did not suspect, and had no reason to suspect, that it was threatening, abusive or insulting.
(3) References in this Part to the publication or distribution of written material are to its publication or distribution to the public or a section of the public.
29D Public performance of play
(1) If a public performance of a play is given which involves the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, any person who presents or directs the performance is guilty of an offence if—
| (a) | he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred, or |
| (b) | he is reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up thereby. |
(2) If a person presenting or directing the performance is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred, it is a defence for him to prove—
| (a) | that he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the performance would involve the use of the offending words or behaviour, or |
| (b) | that he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the offending words or behaviour were threatening, abusive or insulting. |
(3) This section does not apply to a performance given solely or primarily for one or more of the following purposes—
| (b) | making a recording of the performance, or |
| (c) | enabling the performance to be included in a programme service; |
but if it is proved that the performance was attended by persons other than those directly connected with the giving of the performance or the doing in relation to it of the things mentioned in paragraph (b) or (c), the performance shall, unless the contrary is shown, be taken not to have been given solely or primarily for the purposes mentioned above.
(4) For the purposes of this section—
| (a) | a person shall not be treated as presenting a performance of a play by reason only of his taking part in it as a performer, |
| (b) | a person taking part as a performer in a performance directed by another shall be treated as a person who directed the performance if without reasonable excuse he performs otherwise than in accordance with that person's direction, and |
| (c) | a person shall be taken to have directed a performance of a play given under his direction notwithstanding that he was not present during the performance; |
and a person shall not be treated as aiding or abetting the commission of an offence under this section by reason only of his taking part in a performance as a performer.
(5) In this section "play" and "public performance" have the same meaning as in the Theatres Act 1968.
(6) The following provisions of the Theatres Act 1968 apply in relation to an offence under this section as they apply to an offence under section 2 of that Act—
section 9 (script as evidence of what was performed),
section 10 (power to make copies of script),
section 15 (powers of entry and inspection).
29E Distributing, showing or playing a recording
(1) A person who distributes, or shows or plays, a recording of visual images or sounds which are threatening, abusive or insulting is guilty of an offence if—
| (a) | he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred, or |
| (b) | he is reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up thereby. |
(2) In this Part "recording" means any record from which visual images or sounds may, by any means, be reproduced; and references to the distribution, showing or playing of a recording are to its distribution, showing or playing to the public or a section of the public.
(3) In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for an accused who is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred to prove that he was not aware of the content of the recording and did not suspect, and had no reason to suspect, that it was threatening, abusive or insulting.
(4) This section does not apply to the showing or playing of a recording solely for the purpose of enabling the recording to be included in a programme service.
29F Broadcasting or including programme in programme service
(1) If a programme involving threatening, abusive or insulting visual images or sounds is included in a programme service, each of the persons mentioned in subsection (2) is guilty of an offence if—
| (a) | he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred, or |
| (b) | he is reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up thereby. |
(2) The persons are—
| (a) | the person providing the programme service, |
| (b) | any person by whom the programme is produced or directed, and |
| (c) | any person by whom offending words or behaviour are used. |
(3) If the person providing the service, or a person by whom the programme was produced or directed, is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred, it is a defence for him to prove that—
| (a) | he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the programme would involve the offending material, and |
| (b) | having regard to the circumstances in which the programme was included in a programme service, it was not reasonably practicable for him to secure the removal of the material. |
(4) It is a defence for a person by whom the programme was produced or directed who is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred to prove that he did not know and had no reason to suspect that the programme would be included in a programme service.
(5) It is a defence for a person by whom offending words or behaviour were used and who is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred to prove that he did not know and had no reason to suspect that a programme involving the use of the offending material would be included in a programme service.
(6) A person who is not shown to have intended to stir up religious hatred is not guilty of an offence under this section if he did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that the offending material was threatening, abusive or insulting.
Inflammatory material
29G Possession of inflammatory material
(1) A person who has in his possession written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, or a recording of visual images or sounds which are threatening, abusive or insulting, with a view to—
| (a) | in the case of written material, its being displayed, published, distributed, or included in a programme service, whether by himself or another, or |
| (b) | in the case of a recording, its being distributed, shown, played, or included in a programme service, whether by himself or another, |
is guilty of an offence if he intends religious hatred to be stirred up thereby or is reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up thereby.
(2) For this purpose regard shall be had to such display, publication, distribution, showing, playing, or inclusion in a programme service as he has, or it may be reasonably be inferred that he has, in view.
29H Powers of entry and search
(1) If a justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath laid by a constable that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a person has possession of written material or a recording in contravention of section 29G, the justice may issue a warrant under his hand authorising any constable to enter and search the premises where it is suspected the material or recording is situated.
(2) A constable entering or searching premises in pursuance of a warrant issued under this section may use reasonable force if necessary.
(3) In this section "premises" means any place and, in particular, includes—
| (a) | any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or hovercraft, |
| (b) | any offshore installation within the meaning of the Mineral Workings (Offshore Installations) Act 1971, and |
| (c) | any tent or movable structure. |
29I Power to order forfeiture
(1) A court by or before which a person is convicted of—
| (a) | an offence under section 29B relating to the display of written material, or |
| (b) | an offence under section 29C, 29E or 29G, |
shall order to be forfeited any written material or recording produced to the court and shown to its satisfaction to be written material or a recording to which the offence relates.
(2) An order made under this section shall not take effect until the expiry of the ordinary time within which an appeal may be instituted or, where an appeal is duly instituted, until it is finally decided or abandoned.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)—
| (a) | an application for a case stated or for leave to appeal shall be treated as the institution of an appeal, and |
| (b) | where a decision on appeal is subject to a further appeal, the appeal is not finally determined until the expiry of the ordinary time within which a further appeal may be instituted or, where a further appeal is duly instituted, until the further appeal is finally decided or abandoned. |
Supplementary provisions
29J Savings for reports of parliamentary or judicial proceedings
(1) Nothing in this Part applies to a fair and accurate report of proceedings in Parliament or in the Scottish Parliament.
(2) Nothing in this Part applies to a fair and accurate report of proceedings publicly heard before a court or tribunal exercising judicial authority where the report is published contemporaneously with the proceedings or, if it is not reasonably practicable or would be unlawful to publish a report of them contemporaneously, as soon as publication is reasonably practicable and lawful.
29K Savings for discussion, debate and criticism, etc.
(1) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that a person is not guilty of an offence under this Part by reason of anything done (by him or another person) so far as—
| (a) | it consists, or forms part, of a discussion or debate of issues relating to any religion, religious belief or religious practice, |
| (b) | it consists of criticising, expressing antipathy towards, abusing, insulting or ridiculing (or seeking to ridicule) any religion, religious belief or religious practice, or |
| (c) | it is done with a view to persuading any person to convert to any religion or adopt particular religious beliefs or to abandon any religion or religious belief, |
unless he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred or is reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up thereby.
(2) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that—
| (a) | a person is not guilty of an offence under this Part of intending to stir up religious hatred if he intends to stir up hatred against a religion, religious belief or religious practice but does not also intend to stir up hatred against a group of persons defined as mentioned in section 29A; |
| (b) | a person is not guilty of an offence under this Part of being reckless as to whether religious hatred would be stirred up if he is reckless as to whether hatred would be stirred up against a religion, religious belief or religious practice but is not also reckless as to whether hatred would be stirred up against a group of persons defined as mentioned in that section. |
(3) In this section references to religious beliefs and religious practices are to the religious beliefs and religious practices (or the lack of such beliefs or practices) of the members of a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.
29L Procedure and punishment
(1) No proceedings for an offence under this Part may be instituted except by or with the consent of the Attorney General.
(2) For the purposes of the rules against charging more than one offence in the same count or information, each of sections 29B to 29G creates one offence.
(3) In proceedings for an offence under this Part in respect of any conduct, it is irrelevant whether religious hatred was in fact stirred up by the conduct in question.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this Part is liable—
| (a) | on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or a fine or both; |
| (b) | on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both. |
(5) In relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (general limit on magistrates' courts power to impose imprisonment), the reference in subsection (4)(b) to a period of imprisonment of twelve months is to be read as a reference to a period of imprisonment of six months.
29M Offences by corporations
(1) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Part and it is shown that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as it applies to a director.
29N Interpretation
In this Part—
"distribute", and related expressions, shall be construed in accordance with section 29C(3) (written material) and section 29E(2) (recordings);
"dwelling" means any structure or part of a structure occupied as a person's home or other living accommodation (whether the occupation is separate or shared with others) but does not include any part not so occupied, and for this purpose "structure" includes a tent, caravan, vehicle, vessel or other temporary or movable structure;
"programme" means any item which is included in a programme service;
"programme service" has the same meaning as in the Broadcasting Act 1990;
"publish", and related expressions, in relation to written material, shall be construed in accordance with section 29C(3);
"religious hatred" has the meaning given by section 29A;
"recording" has the meaning given by section 29E(2), and "play" and "show", and related expressions, in relation to a recording, shall be construed in accordance with that provision;
"written material" includes any sign or other visible representation."'
