Incitement to racial hatred
271. Since the second report, the law on incitement to racial hatred in Great Britain has been strengthened by the implementation of sections 18 and 19 of part III of the Public Order Act 1986 of 1 April 1987 (replacing section 5A of the Public Order Act 1936 and section 70 of the Race Relations Act 1976). A person using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or displaying, publishing or distributing such material is guilty of an offence not only where racial hatred is likely to be stirred up but also where the person intends to stir up racial hatred. Part III also extends the law to cover broadcasting (except by the BBC and IBA, which work under separate obligations as to programme standards), cable and other media which involve recordings of visual images or sounds. A new offence of possession of racially inflammatory material has also been created; the police have been given new powers of search in relation to such material and the courts can order its forfeiture. A similar provision is to be found in Northern Ireland in part III of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, which also covers incitement to religious hatred. The Government does not at present see any need to go beyond this, for example by introducing any legislation in Great Britain on incitement to religious hatred, which it does not regard as an issue on the mainland.
272. The Committee has in the past criticized the existence in the United Kingdom of neo-fascist organizations. While the Government does not approve of the views of such organizations, they do not have a significant influence on the life of the country or represent a threat which cannot be dealt with by other means, and provided they act within the law the Government sees no need to introduce new legislation to proscribe them. considerations apply to organizations concerned in terrorism (see under art. 21 below).
273. In 1984, the Committee asked for information about the number of proceedings which had been instituted under section 5A of the Public Order Act 1936 since its introduction in 1976. As indicated above (para. 271), this section has now been repealed and replaced by part III of the Public Order Act 1986. Figures for prosecutions for incitement to racial hatred were not kept centrally before 1979; since then, there have been 44 prosecutions for incitement to racial hatred.
Article 21
274. While the views of some organizations may be regarded as offensive, the Government does not regard offensiveness as a suitable test for imposing bans on marches or conditions on public assemblies. It is too subjective and could lead to an unacceptable infringement of free speech. There are therefore no powers to ban meetings or assemblies on grounds of offensiveness and such a power would, in the Government's view, be unacceptable. Marches can therefore be banned only if serious public disorder is apprehended. Statutory conditions can be imposed on a public assembly or march only if one of four tests (serious disorder, serious damage, serious disruption, or coercion) is apprehended. The tests set a high threshold below which the imposition of conditions is not possible.