A crime to incite hatred on the basis of sexuality
Maximum sentence of seven years
The Government is to make it a crime to incite hatred because of a person’s sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, Jack Straw announced recently. The offence will carry a maximum sentence of seven years.
Mr Straw, the Justice Secretary, outlined the plans to MPs but the details of the measure are yet to be finalised. He will insert a clause to create the offence when the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill reaches committee stage.
Under the proposal it would be considered a crime to incite hatred against homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and heterosexual people. Mr Straw said: “It is a measure of how far we have come as a society in the past ten years that we are now appalled by hatred and invective directed at people on the basis of their sexuality. It is time for the law to recognise this.”
Prosecutions will be brought only with the agreement of the Attorney General. The new crime will cover people using threatening words or written material, or recording visual images or sounds that incite hatred because of sexual orientation.
Mr Straw also plans to give parents more information about convicted child sex offenders. His proposals would put a legal duty on multi agency public protection panels, including police and probation services, to consider disclosing information.
In future the presumption would be that the information should be disclosed if the authorities considered an offender was a danger to the public.
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