Laws prohibiting

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

and

blasphemous libel Blasphemous libel was originally an offence under the common law of England. Today, it is an offence under the common law of Northern Ireland, but has been abolished in England and Wales, and repealed in Canada and New Zealand. It is a form of ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

date back to the medieval times as

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

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 Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, 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. Th ...

in 2008 and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 2024. Equivalent laws remain in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Historically, blasphemy laws in England and Wales protected only

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, particularly the established

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, with prosecutions targeting those who denied Christian doctrine or mocked religious beliefs. The last person executed for blasphemy in Britain was

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 Blasphemy Act 1661 and Blasphemy Act 1695. He was the last ...

, a 20-year-old Scottish student hanged in Edinburgh in 1697, while the last person imprisoned for blasphemy was

John William Gott John William Gott (1866 – 4 November 1922) was a British socialist and the last person in Britain to be sent to prison for blasphemy. His was also the last public prosecution for blasphemy. Later prosecutions were purely private. Religious sta ...

in 1921. The laws remained largely dormant until the landmark 1977 case ''

Whitehouse v Lemon ''Whitehouse v Lemon'' is a 1976 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK. "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name" "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name" is a poem by Ja ...

'' demonstrated they were still enforceable. The 1985

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 ...

recommended abolition of the offences, citing their anachronistic nature and incompatibility with modern

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

principles. Following extensive campaigning by secular and religious groups, including

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent Irreligion in the United Kingdom, non-religious people in the UK throug ...

and members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, 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 N ...

. 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 ...

had previously demonstrated Parliament's approach to addressing religious hatred by focusing on harm to individuals while explicitly protecting the right to criticise or attack religions as ideas and institutions. Scotland followed suit with the

Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. Background The ''Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill'' was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in April 2020, following an independent review ...

, which came into effect in 2024. More recently, concerns have emerged in the 2020s that blasphemous self-expression was once again being criminalised through prosecutions under the

Public Order Act 1986 The Public Order Act 1986 (c. 64) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936. It implements recommendations

, leading to calls for further legislative reform to protect

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

and

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

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 specif ...

s of

and

were abolished in England and Wales by the

. See also

Ecclesiastical offences

The offence of

was originally part of

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

. 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, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

and the

Lollards Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...

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 powers were sought and granted under King Henry IV in 1400. These new powers allowed the bishops to arrest and imprison all preachers of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

, 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 Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...

, punishable by the common law courts. In 1656, the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

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 (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

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

was held as an offence against common law. When formulating his new

's doctrines in the 1530s,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

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

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Unitarians Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

, and others. Ever since 1838, blasphemy was considered to be only a crime against beliefs of the

. All blasphemies against

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, including denying his being or providence, all contumelious reproaches of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, 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 often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and l ...

, and exposing any part thereof to contempt or ridicule, were punishable by the temporal courts with death, imprisonment,

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

and fine. In 1656, two weavers, William Bond and Thomas Hibbord were indicted in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

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 Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

. ''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'', "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 lef ...

was found guilty of the publication of a

(

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

's ''

Queen Mab Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', in which the character Mercutio famously describes her as "the fairies' midwife", a miniature creature who rides her chariot (which is driven by a team of ato ...

''), 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 the Error From Queen ...

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''

917 __NOTOC__ Year 917 ( CMXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 20 – Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary force (62,000 men) under General Leo Ph ...

AC 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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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

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 Denning, Baron Denning, (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999), was an English barrister 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 when he w ...

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 ''

'' (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, circu ...

'' publishing

James Kirkup James Harold Kirkup (23 April 1918 – 10 May 2009) was an English poet, translator and travel writer. He wrote more than 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 1976 court case involving the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom. It was the last successful blasphemy trial in the UK. "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name" "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name" is a poem by Ja ...

'') 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. He was described as an "outstanding judicial figure, entrusted with the most hi ...

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''

AC 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 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the ...

requires the courts to interpret the law in a way that is compatible with the

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by 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 o ...

for a restriction on free speech. When the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

magistrates' court. Christian Voice applied to have this ruling overturned by the High Court, but the application was rejected, the court finding that the

blasphemy offences specifically did not apply to stage productions (section 2(4) of the

Theatres Act 1968 The Theatres Act 1968 (c. 54) abolished stage censorship in the United Kingdom, receiving royal assent on 26 July 1968, after passing both Houses of Parliament.Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which aimed to liberalise and deregulate the British broadcasting industry by promoting competition; an example being ITV (TV network), ...

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 Jury instructions, also known as charges or directions, are a set of legal guidelines given by a judge to a jury in a court of law. They are an important procedural step in a trial by jury, and as such are a cornerstone of criminal process in many ...

, 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 () 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 position is currently held b ...

was disestablished in 1920. In 1985, the Law Commission said that the effect of this was that the church was no longer "the form established by law" nor "part of the constitution" of the

Principality of Wales The Principality of Wales () 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 conquest of Wales by Edwa ...

, 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 ''

'' (as ''Whitehouse v Gay News Ltd''

979 Year 979 (Roman numerals, CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. It was the 979th year of the Common Era and the Anno Domini designation, the 979th year of the 1st millennium, the 79th year of the 10th century, ...

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), a divisional 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 by the

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1677 The Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1677 ( 29 Cha. 2. c. 9) was an act of the Parliament of England. It abolished the death penalty for heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or custo ...

( 29 Cha. 2. c. 9). 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 £3,000 and by others in the sum of £2,000. (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 ...

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

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 a significant case was the imprisonment of Cornish well-sinker Thomas Pooley for twenty-one months in 1857. 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 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-communism, anarcho-communist and a prominent member of the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation (APCF). He founded the Mikhail Bakunin, Bak ...

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 and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

's novel ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel from the Indian-British 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 re ...

'' was published. A number of Muslims considered the book to blaspheme against Islam, and Iranian clerical leader

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

issued a

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

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 is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

select committee stated, the law only protects the Christian beliefs as held by the

. 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

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 ''

'' by

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. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

church in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

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 an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party's Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

. "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 writers, academics and MPs in Britain. 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

appointed a select committee "to consider and report on the law relating to

religious offense Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, ...

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, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2001, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005. ...

responded with plans to criminalise incitement to religious hatred, which became the

, 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 politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

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

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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' 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 Conservati ...

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. The Soc ...

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 C ...

, former

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, 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

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

The

Sacrament Act 1547 The Sacrament Act 1547 ( 1 Edw. 6. c. 1) 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 ...

(

1 Edw. 6 1547 (1 Edw. 6) This session was also traditionally cited as 1 Ed. 6. The first session of the 1st Parliament of King Edward VI, which met from 4 November 1547 until 24 December 1547. Public acts Private acts Sources * * * * * ...

. c. 1) set a punishment of imprisonment for reviling the sacrament of the

Lord's Supper The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

. It was repealed by the

First Statute of Repeal The First Statute of Repeal was an act of the Parliament of England ( 1 Mar. Sess. 2. c. 2), passed in 1553 in the first Parliament of Mary I's reign, that nullified all religious legislation passed under the previous monarch, the boy-king Edw ...

(

1 Mar. Sess. 2 7 Edw. 6 The 2nd Parliament of King Edward VI, which met from 1 March 1553 until 31 March 1553. This session was also traditionally cited as 7 Ed. 6. Public acts Private acts Sources * * * * * * * * * 1 Mar. Sess. 1 ...

. c. 2) in 1553 and revived again in 1558. The

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

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". All acts of Interregnum period were considered void after the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

due to their lack of

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

. 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 (c. 58) 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. ...

. Those denying the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

were deprived of the benefit of the

Toleration Act 1688 The Toleration Act 1688 ( 1 Will. & Mar. c. 18), also referred to as the Act of Toleration or the Toleration Act 1689, was an act of the Parliament of England. Passed in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, it received royal assent on 24 ...

. 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 ...

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 The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

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. The

Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 The act 53 Geo. 3. c. 160, sometimes called the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813, the Trinitarian Act 1812, the Unitarian Relief Act, the Trinity Act, the Unitarian Toleration Bill, or Mr William Smith's Bill (after Whig politician William S ...

( 53 Geo. 3. c. 160) 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 List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

, as it originally stood, the punishment for blasphemy was death, a penalty last imposed on

in Edinburgh in 1697. By the Leasing-making (Scotland) Act 1825 ( 6 Geo. 4. c. 47), amended by the Leasing-making, etc. (Scotland) Act 1837 ( 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 5), 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; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

(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

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 United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public order England, Wales and Norther ...

. 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 t ...

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.

, which campaigns against blasphemy laws, welcomed the bill. The

received royal assent on 23 April 2021 and abolished the common law offence of blasphemy from 1 April 2024.

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

, 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.

Campaign to reform Public Order Act

Following the abolition of blasphemy laws in England and Wales in 2008, concerns have emerged that blasphemy offences are being effectively reintroduced through prosecutions under the

. The controversy centres on a 2025 case where a man was convicted for burning a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in London, originally charged with harassing "the religious institution of Islam" before the charge was amended.

argued that prosecutors circumvented explicit free speech protections in Section 29J of the Public Order Act by charging the defendant under sections not covered by these safeguards. In response to these concerns, MPs have called for legislative reform to protect freedom of expression regarding religion. A Freedom of Expression (Religion) Bill has been proposed to extend Section 29J protections to cover all parts of the Public Order Act. The campaign has been supported by civil liberties groups, with Humanists UK warning that if the Public Order Act can be interpreted to criminalise blasphemy, it "urgently needs amendment to prevent such misapplications".

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 was a charity in the United Kingdom which published '' New Humanist'' magazine between 1885 and 2025. Since 2025, the Rationalist Press has been the publishing imprint of Humanists UK. The original Rationalist Press ...

. * Marsh, Joss (1998). ''Word crimes: blasphemy, culture, and literature in nineteenth-century England''.

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Press. * Walter, Nicolas (1990). ''Blasphemy Ancient and Modern''. London:

Bibliography

* Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner (1912). ''Penalties Upon Opinion, or, Some records of the laws of heresy and Blasphemy''. Watts & Co. on behalf of

. * Marsh, Joss (1998). ''Word crimes: blasphemy, culture, and literature in nineteenth-century England''.

Press. * Walter, Nicolas (1990). ''Blasphemy Ancient and Modern''. London:

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

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

Religious discrimination in the United Kingdom Church of Scotland