Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024
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Hatred against persons on account of their protected characteristics as aggravating factor in sentencing for certain offences | ||
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8. (1) Without prejudice to any other enactment or rule of law and subject to subsections (2) and (3), a court shall treat as an aggravating factor hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of their protected characteristics or any of those characteristics on the part of a person in the commission of an offence to which this section applies for the purposes of determining the sentence to be imposed on the person for that offence. | ||
(2) Accordingly, the court shall (except where the sentence for the offence concerned is one of imprisonment for life or where the court considers there are exceptional circumstances justifying its not doing so) impose a sentence that is greater than that which would have been imposed in the absence of such a factor. | ||
(3) The sentence imposed shall not be greater than the maximum sentence permissible for the offence concerned. | ||
(4) Where a greater sentence is imposed by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall state and record in the proceedings— | ||
(a) the fact that the greater sentence is imposed pursuant to this section, and | ||
(b) the protected characteristic or characteristics of the person or the group of persons concerned by reference to which that greater sentence is imposed. | ||
(5) An offence to which this section applies means an offence other than an offence under any of the following provisions: | ||
(a) sections 2 , 3 and 4 of the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 ; | ||
(b) section 2A (inserted by section 5 ) of the Criminal Damage Act 1991 ; | ||
(c) sections 6A, 7A, 11A and 18A (inserted by section 6 ) of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 ; | ||
(d) sections 2A, 3B, 4B, 5A, 9A, 10B and 13A (inserted by section 7 ) of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 . |