Remedy
Start free

Section 28: Meaning of “ racially or religiously aggravated”.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998 · 1998 c. 37View on legislation.gov.uk

Part II: Criminal law

An offence is racially or religiously aggravated for the purposes of sections 29 to 32 below 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; or
the offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group based on their membership of that group.

In subsection (1)(a) above—

  • “membership”, in relation to a racial or religious group, includes association with members of that group;

  • “presumed” means presumed by the offender.

It is immaterial for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) above whether or not the offender’s hostility is also based, to any extent, on any other factor not mentioned in that paragraph.

In this section “racial group” means a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins.

In this section “religious group” means a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.