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Laws prohibiting blasphemy and blasphemous libel in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
date back to the mediaeval times as
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
and in some special cases as
enacted legislation. The common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were formally abolished in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
in 2008 and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in 2021. Equivalent laws remain in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
England and Wales
The
common law offence
Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. State laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific ...
s of
blasphemy and
blasphemous libel were abolished in England and Wales by the
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes significant changes in many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Nor ...
. See also
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 (c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which creates an offence in England and Wales of inciting hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion. The Act was the Labour Governm ...
.
Ecclesiastical offences
The offence of
blasphemy was originally part of
canon law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
. In 1378, at the command of Pope Gregory XI, persecution of
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...
and the
Lollards
Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic ...
was undertaken. However, the only punishment available to the bishops at the time was excommunication. The clergy, dissatisfied with this, forged an Act of parliament, without the assent of the Lords or Commons, enabling the arrest and imprisonment of heretics. In the following year an attempt was made by Parliament to repeal the Act, which prompted a series of prosecutions, and the repeal failed. Not satisfied with their new powers, further were sought and granted under King Henry IV in 1400. These new powers allowed the bishops to arrest and imprison all preachers of heresy, all schoolmasters infected with heresy, and all owners and writers of heretical books. On refusal to abjure (solemnly renounce) or relapse after abjuration, the heretic could be handed over to civil officers, to be taken to a high place before the people and there be burnt, so that their punishment might strike fear in the hearts and minds of others. In April, 1399, William Sawyer was convicted of heresy and put to penance by his bishop. He was again arrested on 12 February 1400, as a relapsed heretic and was convicted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sawyer was burnt on 2 March, eight days before the power to inflict such punishment was granted. There is a long list of those burnt, or hanged and burnt, between 1414 and 1506. In the 17th century, blasphemy was declared a common law offence by the
Court of King's Bench
The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions.
* Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...
, punishable by the common law courts.
In 1656, the
Quaker James Naylor
James Nayler (or Naylor; 1618–1660) was an English Quaker leader. He was among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. In 1656, Nayler achieved national notoriety when he re-enacted Christ's Palm ...
was sentenced by the
Second Protectorate Parliament
The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in ...
to flogging, to be pilloried, branded on the forehead and the piercing of his tongue by a red-hot poker, and thereafter kept in prison on hard labour indefinitely. In sentencing Naylor, the judge, Lord Commissioner Whitelock, makes the distinction between heresy and blasphemy.
Common law offences
From the 16th century to the mid-19th century, blasphemy against
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
was held as an offence against common law. When formulating his new
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
's doctrines in the 1530s,
Henry VIII made it an offence to say or print any opinion that contradicted the
Six Articles (1539). Blasphemy was also used as a legal instrument to persecute
atheists,
Unitarians, and others. Ever since 1838, blasphemy was considered to be only a crime against beliefs of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
.
All blasphemies against
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
, including denying his being or providence, all contumelious reproaches of
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, all profane scoffing at the
Holy Scriptures
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...
, and exposing any part thereof to contempt or ridicule, were punishable by the temporal courts with death, imprisonment,
corporal punishment and fine. In 1656, two weavers, William Bond and Thomas Hibbord were indicted in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
for atheistic statements.
In May of the same year, Alexander Agnew, known as "Jock of Broad Scotland", was convicted and hanged for blasphemy in
Dumfries.
''Taylor's Case'' in 1676 was the first
reported case of the common law offence of blasphemy. It is unclear whether or not there were any unreported earlier cases. Lord Sumner said "Taylor's case is the foundation stone of this part of the law".
The report by Ventris contains the following passage:
In ''Rex v
Woolston
Woolston may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Woolston, Cheshire, a village and civil parish in Warrington
* Woolston, Devon, on the list of United Kingdom locations: Woof-Wy near Kingsbridge, Devon
* Woolston, Southampton, a city suburb in Ham ...
'', "the Court declared they would not suffer it to be debated, whether to write against Christianity in general was not an offence punishable in the Temporal Courts at common law: it having been settled so to be in ''Taylor's Case'' in 1 Vent. 293. 3 Keb 607, 621 and in the case of ''The King v Hall'', ante, 416. They desired it might be taken notice of, that they laid their stress upon the word general, and did not intend to include disputes between learned men on particular controverted points."
In 1841,
Edward Moxon
Edward Moxon (12 December 1801 – 3 June 1858) was a British poet and publisher, significant in Victorian literature.
Biography
Moxon was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire, where his father Michael worked in the wool trade. In 1817 he left ...
was found guilty of the publication of a
blasphemous libel (
Percy Bysshe Shelley's ''
Queen Mab
Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', where "she is the fairies' midwife". Later, she appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play, her activity i ...
''), the prosecution having been instituted by
Henry Hetherington
Henry Hetherington (June 1792 – 24 August 1849) was an English printer, bookseller, publisher and newspaper proprietor who campaigned for social justice, a free press, universal suffrage and religious freethought. Together with his close asso ...
, who had previously been condemned to four months imprisonment for a similar offence, and wished to test the law under which he was punished. In the case of ''Cowan v Milbourn'' (1867) the defendant had broken his contract to let a lecture-room to the plaintiff, on discovering that the intended lectures were to maintain that the character of Christ is defective, and his teaching misleading, and that the Bible is no more inspired than any other book, and the
Court of Exchequer Chamber
The Court of Exchequer Chamber was an English appellate court for common law civil actions before the reforms of the Judicature Acts of 1873–1875. It originated in the fourteenth century, established in its final form by a statute of 1585.
The ...
held that the publication of such doctrine was blasphemy, and the contract therefore illegal. On that occasion, the court reaffirmed the dictum of Lord Chief Justice Hale, that Christianity is part of the laws of England.
The commissioners on criminal law (sixth report) remarked that although the law forbade all denial of the being and providence of God or the Christian religion, it is only when irreligion assumes the form of an insult to God and man that the interference of the criminal law took place.
The dictum "if the decencies of controversy are observed, even the fundamentals of religion may be attacked without the writer being guilty of blasphemy" was followed in R v Boulter (1908) 72 JP 188.
In the case of ''Bowman v Secular Society''
917AC 406,
Lord Sumner, echoing Hale's remarks in ''Taylor'', summarized the position using the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
phrase, ''deorum injuriae diis curae'', "offences to the gods are dealt with by the gods": blasphemy is an offence against the (Christian) state, and is prohibited because it tends to subvert (Christian) society; offence to God as such is outside the reach of the law.
The last person in Britain to be sent to prison for blasphemy was
John William Gott
John William Gott (1866 – 4 November 1922) was the last person in Britain to be sent to prison for blasphemy. His was also the last public prosecution. Later prosecutions were purely private.
Religious statements
A trouser salesman from Bra ...
on 9 December 1921. He had three previous convictions for blasphemy when he was prosecuted for publishing two pamphlets entitled ''Rib Ticklers, or Questions for Parsons'' and ''God and Gott''. In these pamphlets Gott satirised the biblical story of Jesus entering Jerusalem () comparing Jesus to a circus clown. He was sentenced to nine months' hard labour despite suffering from an incurable illness, and died shortly after he was released. The case became the subject of public outrage.
In a 1949 speech,
Lord Denning
Alfred Thompson "Tom" Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999) was an English lawyer and judge. He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 wh ...
placed the blasphemy laws in the past, saying that "The reason for this law was because it was thought that a denial of Christianity was liable to shake the fabric of society, which was itself founded upon Christian religion. There is no such danger to society now and the offence of blasphemy is a
dead letter
Dead letter mail or undeliverable mail is mail that cannot be delivered to the addressee or returned to the sender. This is usually due to lack of compliance with postal regulations, an incomplete address and return address, or the inability to ...
".
In 1977, however, the case ''
Whitehouse v Lemon
''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK.
Facts
James Kirkup's poem '' The Love that Dares to Speak its Name'' was published in the 3 Ju ...
'' (involving the periodical ''
Gay News
''Gay News'' was a fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). At the newspaper's height, circul ...
'' publishing
James Kirkup
James Harold Kirkup, FRSL (23 April 1918 – 10 May 2009) was an English poet, translator and travel writer. He wrote over 45 books, including autobiographies, novels and plays. He wrote under many pen-names including James Falconer, Aditya Jha ...
's poem ''
The Love that Dares to Speak its Name
''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK.
Facts
James Kirkup's poem '' The Love that Dares to Speak its Name'' was published in the 3 J ...
'') demonstrated that the offence of blasphemous libel, long thought to be dormant, was still in force. During the House of Lords appeal
Lord Scarman
Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman, (29 July 1911 – 8 December 2004) was an English judge and barrister, who served as a Law Lord until his retirement in 1986.
Early life and education
Scarman was born in Streatham but grew up on the bo ...
said that "I do not subscribe to the view that the common-law offence of blasphemous libel serves no useful purpose in modern law. ... The offence belongs to a group of criminal offences designed to safeguard the internal tranquillity of the kingdom."
The following cases, in particular, were approved by the House of Lords in ''Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd'':
* ''R v Hetherington'' (1841) 4 St Tr (NS) 563, (1841) 5 JP 496, (1841) 4 Jur 529
* ''Shore v Wilson'' (1842) 9 Cl & F 524
* ''R v Ramsay and Foote'' (1883) 15 Cox 231, (1883) 48 LT 733
* ''Bowman v Secular Society Ltd''
917AC 406, 33 TLR 376, 86 LJ Ch 117
Lord Scarman said that in his judgement the modern law of blasphemy was correctly formulated in article 214 of Stephen's Digest of the Criminal Law, Ninth Edition, 1950, which reads:
The
Human Rights Act 1998 requires the courts to interpret the law in a way that is compatible with the
. The offence of blasphemous libel is believed by some to be contrary to the freedom of speech provisions in the Convention. However, just before the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998, a claim that the blasphemy law is inconsistent with article 10 of the Convention (providing for freedom of expression) was rejected in the case of ''Wingrove v UK'' (1997); a case brought by solicitor
Mark Stephens. The Court decided that it was within the state's
margin of appreciation
The margin of appreciation (or margin of state discretion) is a legal doctrine with a wide scope in international human rights law. It was developed by the European Court of Human Rights to judge whether a state party to the European Convention on ...
for a restriction on free speech.
When the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
decided to broadcast ''
Jerry Springer: The Opera'' in January 2005, they received over 63,000 complaints by offended Christian viewers who objected to the show's portrayal of Christian icons (including one scene depicting Jesus professing to be "a bit gay"). The fundamentalist group
Christian Voice sought a private blasphemy prosecution against the BBC, but the charges were rejected by
City of Westminster magistrates' court. Christian Voice applied to have this ruling overturned by the
High Court, but the application was rejected, the court finding that the
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
blasphemy offences specifically did not apply to stage productions (section 2(4) of the
Theatres Act 1968
The Theatres Act 1968 abolished censorship of the stage in the United Kingdom, receiving royal assent on 26 July 1968, after passing both Houses of Parliament.Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
).
Religion to which the offences relate
In ''R v Gathercole'' (1838), the defendant was convicted of criminal libel for publishing an attack on a Roman Catholic nunnery. Alderson B., in his direction to the jury, said that "a person may, without being liable to prosecution for it, attack Judaism, or Mahomedanism, or even any sect of the Christian religion (save the established religion of the country); and the only reason why the latter is in a different situation from the others is, because it is the form established by law, and is therefore a part of the constitution of the country. In the like manner, and for the same reason, any general attack on Christianity is the subject of a criminal prosecution, because Christianity is the established religion of the country."
In ''Bowman v Secular Society Ltd'' (1917), Lord Sumner said that this was a "strange dictum" because insulting a Jew's religion was no less likely to provoke a fight than insulting an episcopalian's religion.
The
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...
was disestablished in 1920. In 1985, the Law Commission said that the effect of this was that that Church was no longer "the form established by law" nor "part of the constitution" of the
Principality of Wales
The Principality of Wales ( cy, Tywysogaeth Cymru) was originally the territory of the native Welsh princes of the House of Aberffraw from 1216 to 1283, encompassing two-thirds of modern Wales during its height of 1267–1277. Following the co ...
, within the meaning of those expressions in the dictum from ''R v Gathercole'' set out above. They said that, at that date, there was no authority as to the effect of this, if any, on the law of blasphemy in Wales.
In ''
Whitehouse v Lemon
''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK.
Facts
James Kirkup's poem '' The Love that Dares to Speak its Name'' was published in the 3 Ju ...
'' (as ''Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd''
979
Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary ...
when it reached the Law Lords), Lord Scarman said that the offence did not protect the religious beliefs and feelings of non-Christians. He said it was "shackled by the chains of history" in this respect.
In ''R v Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Choudhury'' (1991), the
Divisional Court
A divisional court, in relation to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, means a court sitting with at least two judges.Section 66, Senior Courts Act 1981. Matters heard by a divisional court include some criminal cases in the High Court ...
held that the offences prohibited attacks only on the Christian religion, and did not prohibit attacks on the Islamic religion.
It was also held that the failure of these offences to prohibit attacks on non-Christian religions did not violate article 9 of the
(which relates to freedom of religion).
Mode of trial
At the time of their abolition, blasphemy and blasphemous libel were
indictable-only offences.
Sentence and orders on conviction
The death penalty for blasphemy was abolished in 1676.
In ''R v Woolston'', the defendant was sentenced to a fine of £25 for each of his four discourses (i.e. £100 altogether) and to imprisonment for the term of one year. He was also required to enter into a
recognizance
In some common law nations, a recognizance is a conditional pledge of money undertaken by a person before a court which, if the person defaults, the person or their sureties will forfeit that sum. It is an obligation of record, entered into before ...
for his good behaviour during his life, himself in the sum of £3000 and by others in the sum of £2000. (As to recognizances, see also
binding over
In the law of England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions, binding over is an exercise of certain powers by the criminal courts used to deal with low-level public order issues. Both magistrates' courts and the Crown Court may issue b ...
).
Number of prosecutions
Before 1883, prosecutions were "much more common". In the years 1883 to 1922 there were five prosecutions.
[Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd ]979
Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary ...
AC 617 at 635, HL, per Lord Diplock There was an unsuccessful private prosecution in 1971. The next successful prosecution was in 1977.
Individual prosecutions, arrests and failures to prosecute
In England the last prominent 19th-century prosecution for blasphemy was the case of ''R v Ramsey and Foote'', when the editor, publisher and printer of ''
The Freethinker'' were sentenced to imprisonment.
In 1908, police court proceedings were taken against
Harry Boulter
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
for blasphemy uttered at a meeting at Highbury Corner,
Hyde Park. An orator with links to the
Rationalist movement he was jailed for a month in June 1909 and in November 1911 he was sentenced to three months for repeating the offence.
In February 1925, the Glasgow-based radical
Guy Aldred
Guy Alfred Aldred (often Guy A. Aldred; 5 November 1886 – 16 October 1963) was a British anarcho-communist and a prominent member of the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation (APCF). He founded the Bakunin Press publishing house and edited ...
was arrested in Hyde Park and charged with blasphemy and sedition.
In 1988, British author
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
's novel ''
The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
'' was published. Many Muslims considered the book to blaspheme against Islam, and Iranian clerical leader
Ayatollah Khomeini issued a
fatwa in 1989 calling for Rushdie's death, "along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents". Consequently, the government was petitioned for Rushdie to be prosecuted for blasphemy. No charges were laid because, as a
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
select committee stated, the law only protects the Christian beliefs as held by the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
. The Rushdie case stimulated debate on this topic, with some arguing the same protection should be extended to all religions, while others claimed the UK's ancient blasphemy laws were an anachronism and should be abolished. Despite much discussion surrounding the controversy, the law was not amended.
Michael Newman, a secondary school science teacher and an atheist, was arrested under England’s blasphemy law for selling Wingrove's blasphemous video ''Visions of Ecstasy'' in February 1992 in Birmingham. He was forced to resign from his school position due to protests from Christian parents. As a result, he became a subject of discussion in the media, including an appearance on Channel Four’s ''Comment'' programme in England.
Reform
Proposals to amend the law and protests
The
Law Commission
A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...
published a report in 1985 on ''Criminal Law: Offences against Religious and Public Worship''. The report noted that "there is no one agreed definition of blasphemy and blasphemous libel and that it would scarcely be practicable, even if it thought desirable, to amend the common law definition by statute". The authors added that "it is now clear that none of the arguments for retaining a law of blasphemy are sufficiently strong to support this view and each of them is outweighed by other considerations which persuade us that a law of blasphemy is not a necessary part of a criminal code. Moreover, we have no doubt that any replacement offence which might be devised would in practice prove to be unacceptably wide in ambit." The Commission concluded "that the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel should be abolished without replacement". A minority report sought to create a replacement offence such that citizens should not purposely "insult or outrage the religious feelings of others".
In 2002, a deliberate and well-publicised public repeat reading of the poem ''
The Love that Dares to Speak its Name
''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1977 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK.
Facts
James Kirkup's poem '' The Love that Dares to Speak its Name'' was published in the 3 J ...
'' by
James Kirkup
James Harold Kirkup, FRSL (23 April 1918 – 10 May 2009) was an English poet, translator and travel writer. He wrote over 45 books, including autobiographies, novels and plays. He wrote under many pen-names including James Falconer, Aditya Jha ...
took place on the steps of
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
church in
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
and failed to lead to any prosecution by the
Director of Public Prosecutions. It suggested Jesus was a homosexual. An earlier reading in 1977 had led to prosecution. Outraged Christians tried to drown out the 2002 reading. "We have won an important victory for free speech and the right to protest", declared human rights campaigner
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements.
Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...
. "No one was arrested. The police didn't even take our names and addresses. The blasphemy law is now a dead letter. If the authorities are not prepared to enforce the law, they should abolish it". A trial would have involved all those who read and published the poem, including several of Britain's leading writers, academics and MPs. After the event, Tatchell said "The blasphemy law gives the Christian religion privileged protection against criticism and dissent. No other institution enjoys such sweeping powers to suppress the expression of opinions and ideas."
On 15 May 2002 the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
appointed a select committee "to consider and report on the law relating to
religious offense
Religious offense is any action which offends religious sensibilities and arouses serious negative emotions in people with strong belief.
Causes
Different religions are sensitive to different things in different measure, particularly such to ...
s". The committee's first report was published in April 2003; it summarised the state of the law in this area, and found that the present law on blasphemy was unlikely to result in successful prosecution. The committee found no consensus on whether a new law against blasphemy was required, but concluded that any law should apply to all faiths.
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
David Blunkett
David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough ...
responded with plans to criminalise incitement to religious hatred, which became the
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 (c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which creates an offence in England and Wales of inciting hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion. The Act was the Labour Governm ...
, and he suggested the blasphemy law might be repealed once the new law was in force.
Abolition
In January 2008, a spokesman for prime minister
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...
announced that the government would consider supporting the abolition of the blasphemy laws during the passage of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill. The government consulted the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
and other churches before reaching a decision. The move followed a letter written to ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' at the instigation of MP
Evan Harris
Evan Leslie Harris (born 21 October 1965) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservative ...
and the
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...
and was signed by leading figures including
Lord Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
During his time as archbishop the Ch ...
, former
Archbishop of Canterbury, who urged that the laws be abandoned. Evan Harris and
Lord Avebury shared the National Secular Society's 2009 Person of the Year award for their work to abolish the offence of blasphemous libel.
On 5 March 2008, an amendment was passed to the
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes significant changes in many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Nor ...
which abolished the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel in England and Wales. The peers also voted for the laws to be abandoned during March. The Act received royal assent on 8 May 2008, and the relevant section came into force on 8 July 2008.
Statutory offences
An Act of
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
(the
Sacrament Act 1547
The Sacrament Act 1547 is an Act of the Parliament of England.
This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010.
The whole Act, so far as unrepealed, except section 8, was repealed by section 1 of, and Part II
of the Schedule ...
) set a punishment of imprisonment for
reviling the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
. It was repealed by the
First Statute of Repeal
The First Statute of Repeal was an Act of the Parliament of England (1 Mary, st. 2, c. 2), passed in 1553 in the first Parliament of Mary I's reign, nullified all religious legislation passed under the previous monarch, the boy-king Edward VI, and ...
in 1553 and revived again in 1558.
The
interregnum Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
in 1650, "holding it to be
tsduty, by all good ways and means to propagate the Gospel in this Commonwealth, to advance Religion in all Sincerity, Godliness, and Honesty" passed "An Act against several Atheistical, Blasphemous and Execrable Opinions, derogatory to the honor of God, and destructive to humane Society", known as the Blasphemy Act of 1650 and intended to punish those "who should abuse and turn into Licentiousness, the liberty given in matters of Conscience".
Profane cursing and swearing was made punishable by the
Profane Oaths Act 1745, which directed that the offender be brought before a justice of the peace, and fined an amount that depended on his social rank. It was repealed by section 13 of the
Criminal Law Act 1967
The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made some major changes to English criminal law, as part of wider liberal reforms by the Labour government elected in 1966. Most of it is still in force.
Territ ...
.
Those denying the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
were deprived of the benefit of the
Toleration Act 1688
The Toleration Act 1688 (1 Will & Mary c 18), also referred to as the Act of Toleration, was an Act of the Parliament of England. Passed in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, it received royal assent on 24 May 1689.
The Act allowed for f ...
. The
Blasphemy Act 1697
The Blasphemy Act 1697 (9 Will 3 c 35) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It made it an offence for any person, educated in or having made profession of the Christian religion, by writing, preaching, teaching or advised speaking, to deny ...
enacted that if any person, educated in or having made profession of the Christian religion, should by writing, preaching, teaching or advised speaking, deny that the members of the
Holy Trinity were God, or should assert that there is more than one god, or deny the Christian religion to be true, or the Holy Scriptures to be of divine authority, he should, upon the first offence, be rendered incapable of holding any office or place of trust, and for the second incapable of bringing any action, of being guardian or executor, or of taking a legacy or deed of gift, and should suffer three years imprisonment without bail.
[
An Act of 1812–1813 excepted from these enactments "persons denying as therein mentioned respecting the Holy Trinity".][
]
Relationship between the common law and statutory offences
A person offending under the Blasphemy Act 1697 was also indictable at common law. In ''Rex v Carlile'', Mr Justice Best said:
Scotland
By the law of Scotland
Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Irela ...
, as it originally stood, the punishment for blasphemy was death,[ a penalty last imposed on ]Thomas Aikenhead
Thomas Aikenhead ( bapt. 28 March 1676 – 8 January 1697) was a Scottish student from Edinburgh, who was prosecuted and executed at the age of 20 on a charge of blasphemy under the Act against Blasphemy 1661 and Act against Blasphemy 1695. ...
in Edinburgh in 1697. By an Act of 1825, amended in 1837, blasphemy was made punishable by fine or imprisonment or both.[ The last prosecution for blasphemy in Scotland was in 1843 when bookseller Thomas Paterson was sentenced at Edinburgh High Court to fifteen months in prison for selling profane placards,
According to the 18th–19th century legal writer ]David Hume
David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment phil ...
(nephew of the philosopher), Scots law distinguished between blasphemy, which was uttered in passion generally in the heat of the moment, and other offences which involved the propagation of ideas contrary to religion. It is blasphemy, Hume wrote
The Human Rights Act 1998 applies in Scotland as well as England and Wales, and therefore poses similar challenges to the existing Scottish blasphemy laws as those described above. Additionally, some legal commentators believe that, owing to the long time since successful prosecution, blasphemy in Scotland is no longer a crime, although blasphemous conduct might still be tried as a breach of the peace
Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct.
Public ord ...
.
In 2005, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under the ...
considered a complaint under the blasphemy law regarding the BBC transmission of '' Jerry Springer: The Opera'', but did not proceed with charges.
On 24 April 2020, the Scottish Government published a new bill that seeks to reform hate crime legislation to provide better protection against race, sex, age and religious discrimination, and would also decriminalise blasphemy. Humanists UK, which campaigns against blasphemy laws, welcomed the bill.
Northern Ireland
Blasphemy and blasphemous libel continue to be offences under the common law of Northern Ireland. On 5 November 2009, in the House of Lords, an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill was moved, which would have abolished these offences in Northern Ireland, but following a brief debate, the amendment was withdrawn.
In March 2019, Northern Ireland Humanists, part of Humanists UK, launched a campaign to abolish blasphemy laws in Northern Ireland, following on from the referendum result in Ireland and other recent international efforts to repeal blasphemy laws.
Bibliography
*Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner (1912). ''Penalties Upon Opinion, or, Some records of the laws of heresy and Blasphemy''. Watts & Co. on behalf of Rationalist Press Association
The Rationalist Association, originally the Rationalist Press Association, is an organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1885 by a group of freethinkers who were unhappy with the increasingly political and decreasingly intellectual tenor ...
.
*Marsh, Joss (1998). ''Word crimes: blasphemy, culture, and literature in nineteenth-century England''. University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
Press.
* Walter, Nicolas (1990). ''Blasphemy Ancient and Modern''. London: Rationalist Press Association
The Rationalist Association, originally the Rationalist Press Association, is an organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1885 by a group of freethinkers who were unhappy with the increasingly political and decreasingly intellectual tenor ...
.
See also
*Blasphemy law
A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, abou ...
*George William Foote
George William Foote (11 January 1850 – 17 October 1915) was an English secularist, freethinker, republican, writer and journal editor.
Early life
George William Foote was born in Plymouth, the son of William Thomas Foot (a customs officer) ...
*Religion in the United Kingdom
Religion in the United Kingdom, and in the countries that preceded it, has been dominated for over 1,000 years by various forms of Christianity, replacing Romano-British religions, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon paganism as the primary religion. Rel ...
*Status of religious freedom in the United Kingdom
The right to freedom of religion in the United Kingdom is provided for in all Law of the United Kingdom#Three legal systems, three constituent legal systems, by devolved, national, European, and international law and treaty. Four constituent nati ...
*Richard Webster (British author)
Richard Webster (17 December 1950 – 24 June 2011) was a British author. His five published books deal with subjects such as the controversy over Salman Rushdie's novel '' The Satanic Verses'' (1988), Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, and the i ...
References
External links
Whitehouse -v- Lemon; Whitehouse -v- Gay News Ltd On Appeal From Regina -v- Lemon
contains a good discussion of the English law up to 1828 when NSW law split off from English law.
. An account by George William Foote
George William Foote (11 January 1850 – 17 October 1915) was an English secularist, freethinker, republican, writer and journal editor.
Early life
George William Foote was born in Plymouth, the son of William Thomas Foot (a customs officer) ...
of his experiences in the 1880s.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasphemy Law In The United Kingdom
Law about religion in the United Kingdom
History of Christianity in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
Religious discrimination in the United Kingdom
Church of Scotland