Possession of matter intended or likely to stir up hatred or arouse fear

Q: Is article 13(1)(b) of The Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 a strict liability offence?

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

article 13(1)(b) of The Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987

Status not determined
Strict liability
Public order, protest, anti-social behaviour and street offences

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

b in the case of
a recording, its being distributed, shown, played, broadcast or included in
a cable programme service, whether by himself or another, is guilty of an offence if he intends hatred to be stirred up or fear to be aroused thereby or, having regard to all the circumstances, hatred is likely to be stirred up or fear is likely to be aroused thereby.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds: a person
Conduct: breaching the provision
Fault element: Strict liability
Burden of proof: No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

What would breach article 13(1)(b)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

On these words an offence is committed where a person intends hatred to be stirred up or fear to be aroused thereby or, having regard to all the circumstances, hatred is likely to be stirred up or fear is likely to be aroused thereby.
Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987.

Penalty

Mode of trial: Not determined
Maximum fine: Not determined
Maximum prison (summary): Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Breach offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2018
Covers breach of a court order rather than breach of a regulation, but is reached whenever an instrument's requirement is enforced through an order the court has already made.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status: Status not determined
Made: 18 March 1987
In force from: 2 April 1987
Extent: Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

This Order repeals and re-enacts with amendments the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. The principal amendments are to alter the length of advance notice to be given of a public procession, to add to the matters to be notified, to widen the grounds on which conditions may be imposed by the police on public processions and on which the Secretary of State may prohibit public processions and open-air public meetings and to confer on the police new powers to impose conditions on open-air public meetings. The Order also amends the law on incitement to hatred and repeals the Flags and Emblems (Display) Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Schedule 1Schedule 1
Publishing or distributing written materialarticle 10(1)
Distributing, showing or playing a recordingarticle 11(1)
Broadcasting or including programme in cable programme servicearticle 12(1)
Possession of matter intended or likely to stir up hatred or arouse feararticle 13(1)
Riotous or disorderly behaviour in public placearticle 18(1)
Riotous or disorderly behaviour in public placearticle 18(1)(b)
Provocative conduct in public place or at public meeting or processionarticle 19(1)
Provocative conduct in public place or at public meeting or processionarticle 19(1)(c)
Obstructive sitting, etc., in public placearticle 20(1)
Wearing of uniform in public place or at public meetingarticle 21(1)
Carrying of offensive weapon in public placearticle 22(1)

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis: the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence: 0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Public order, protest, anti-social behaviour and street offencesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1987