Amendments to proposed English legislation will make it an offence
to send hate mail by post or electronic means. They will be
contained in the new Criminal Justice and Police Bill and
amendments to Malicious Communications Act of 1988.
Amendments will be tabled today to the Criminal Justice and
Police Bill. The Malicious Communications Act of 1988 will also be
amended.
The measures were announced yesterday by Home Secretary Jack
Straw as part of plans to tackle animal rights extremists and give
better protection to the scientific community.
These laws will not apply in Scotland. However, the
Telecommunications Act of 1984, which applies UK-wide, already
prohibits obscene messages by telephone. It was used by a Scottish
court last year to prosecute a man for sending offensive text
messages by mobile phone. Common law crimes such as breach of the
peace can also be applied in cases of intimidation and harassment
and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, also UK-wide, can be
used to obtain orders against individuals in some
circumstances.
The new proposals announced this week aim to help prevent
protests outside people's homes and tackle the sending of hate
mail, by electronic as well as traditional means, by:
- Giving the police additional powers to prevent or move protests
at homes; and
- Amending the Malicious Communications Act 1988 to:
- make the sending of hate mail an imprisonable offence;
- prevent protesters abusing the defence of 'honest belief' that
their behaviour was reasonable by introducing an objective test;
and
- ensure that e-mails and text messages would be covered.
The Government will also be issuing guidance to shareholders and
employees who may be targeted by animal rights extremists,
outlining steps they can take to improve their personal security
and avoid unnecessary publication of their home addresses.
Mr Straw said:
“Shareholders can quite legitimately use a
service address, such as the address of the company headquarters,
rather than making their home address available on the register at
Companies House. Some are unsure about how to do so. Our new
guidance will outline the simple steps they can take to help
protect themselves and their families.
"The UK has one of the strictest regimes in
the world to control animal testing. The Government is committed to
ensuring that animal experiments only take place where absolutely
necessary, and has done a great deal to minimise testing on
animals. This type of research saves lives and treats the illnesses
of millions of people - the people conducting it must be able to go
about their work free from the fear of violence or
intimidation."
The Government is continuing to look at what further measures
might be required to protect the home addresses of company
directors.
The Government will table an amendment which would amend the
Malicious Communications Act 1988 so that protesters cannot abuse
an existing defence that they honestly believed their threats were
reasonable.
At present, it is a defence under the Act for the sender of hate
mail to claim they honestly believed it was reasonable behaviour.
The amendment would create an objective test of defence (i.e., a
reasonable person would have considered it reasonable to have sent
the communication) rather than a subjective one as at present (i.e.
the offender considered it to be justified).
The amendment would also ensure that communications sent by
electronic means would be covered. Letters are already covered by
the Act, however, it is unclear whether it would cover messages
sent by e-mail and text messages - methods increasingly used to
send threats. The amendment would make it absolutely clear that
modern methods of communication would be covered.
Penalties will also be increased to six months in prison and/or
a level 5 fine (£5000) - at present the maximum penalty is a fine
of up to level 4 (£2500).
