The Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted 4,660 defendants for racially aggravated offences in 2004-05, 29 per cent more than in 2003-04. The conviction rate was 84 per cent, compared to 86 per cent in 2003-04.
Source: Racist Incident Monitoring Annual Report 2004-2005, Crown Prosecution Service (020 7796 8000)
Links: Report | CPS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
A report presented the findings of research into preventing racist violence.
Source: Sarah Isal, Preventing Racist Violence: Work with actual and potential perpetrators learning from practice to policy change, Runnymede Trust (020 7377 9222)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A report summarized the views of people from black and minority ethnic communities who attended focus groups examining perceptions of fair treatment by the criminal justice system.
Source: BME Communities Expectations of Fair Treatment by the Criminal Justice System, Office for Criminal Justice Reform (cjsonline@cjit.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A report outlined the findings from a large study designed to assess the impact of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry (which followed the racist murder of a teenager) on policing. The Inquiry appeared to have been an important lever for change in the police service, and there had been some substantial and positive changes in policing. However, there remained a number of important caveats.
Source: Janet Foster, Tim Newburn and Anna Souhami, Assessing the Impact of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Research Study 294, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Study (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Oct
Research found that a code of practice (published in 2000 following the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence) had had some positive impact in improving the reporting and recording procedures of the police and other agencies: but there remained room for improvement, particularly in the recording of incidents perceived by victims to be less serious but which might have a cumulative impact and provide useful intelligence for prevention activity.
Source: Maria Docking and Rachel Tuffin, Racist Incidents: Progress since the Lawrence Inquiry, Online Report 42/05, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Oct
A new book examined the way the police and criminal justice agencies had responded to hate crime.
Source: Nathan Hall, Hate Crime, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Aug
The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill was given a third reading. The Bill proposed a new offence of incitement to religious hatred - applying where threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour were used by someone who intended to stir up hatred against a group of people defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.
Source: Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 11 July 2005, columns 597-671, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jul
The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill was published, and given a second reading. The Bill proposed a new offence of incitement to religious hatred - applying where threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour were used by someone who intended to stir up hatred against a group of people defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.
Source: Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 21 June 2005, columns 668-767, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | ACPO press release | JUSTICE briefing (pdf) | Law Society press release | Liberty briefing (pdf) | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
A new book examined whether a victim's experience could be improved purely by diminishing the rights of offenders and increasing penalties for offending.
Source: Brian Williams, Victims of Crime and Community Justice, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Jun
A new book reported research which investigated the perceptions of ethnic minorities concerning their treatment in the criminal courts.
Source: Stephen Shute, Roger Hood and Florence Seemungal, A Fair Hearing? Ethnic minorities in the criminal courts, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-May
The government announced plans (in the Queen's speech) for a Bill to outlaw incitement to religious hatred.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 May 2005, columns 29-31, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Law Society press release | MCB press release
Date: 2005-May
A report by a committee of MPs identified a "lack of firm and effective leadership" by the government, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and the criminal justice agencies in Northern Ireland in tackling hate crime.
Source: The Challenge of Diversity: Hate Crime in Northern Ireland, Ninth Report (Session 2004-05), HC 548, House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Apr
A report examined the experiences of young black men as victims of crime. The report found scope for making services for victims of crime more accessible to young black men, and made recommendations to organizations both inside and outside the criminal justice system.
Source: Stella Yarrow, The Experiences of Young Black Men as Victims of Crime, Criminal Justice System Race Unit/Home Office (CJSRACE@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk) and Victims and Confidence Unit/Home Office
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
An inspectorate report said that there was little evidence, either nationally or in local probation areas, of a strategic approach by the probation service to work with racially motivated offenders.
Source: "I'm not a racist but": An Inspection of National Probation Service Work with Racially Motivated Offenders, HM Inspectorate of Probation (020 7035 2200)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
An annual update report was published on statistics relating to race and criminal justice, together with an overview report. During 2003-04, racist incidents recorded by the police rose by 7 per cent to 52,694, following a 10 per cent fall the previous year.
Source: Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System - 2004, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Gordon Barclay, Angie Munley and Tony Munton, Race and the Criminal Justice System: An overview to the complete statistics2003 2004, Criminal Justice System Race Unit/Home Office (CJSRACE@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Report (pdf) | Overview report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
The number of defendants dealt with by the Crown Prosecution Service for racially motivated crimes rose by 13 per cent in 2003-04.
Source: Racist Incident Monitoring Annual Report 2003 2004 (Including Report for Religiously Aggravated Crime 2003 2004), Crown Prosecution Service (020 7796 8000)
Links: Report | CPS press release | ACPO press release | IHRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan