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Section 31: Racially or religiously aggravated public order offences.

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

Part II: Criminal law

A person is guilty of an offence under this section if he commits—

an offence under section 4 of the Public Order Act 1986 (fear or provocation of violence);
an offence under section 4A of that Act (intentional harassment, alarm or distress); or
an offence under section 5 of that Act (harassment, alarm or distress),

which is racially or religiously aggravated for the purposes of this section.

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A person guilty of an offence falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b) above shall be liable—

on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or to both.

A person guilty of an offence falling within subsection (1)(c) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

If, on the trial on indictment of a person charged with an offence falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b) above, the jury find him not guilty of the offence charged, they may find him guilty of the basic offence mentioned in that provision.

For the purposes of subsection (1)(c) above, section 28(1)(a) above shall have effect as if the person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress were the victim of the offence.

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.