Racially and religiously aggravated offences:“God’s gift to defence”?

This article presents findings from a two-year empirical study of the operation of hate crime legislation in England and Wales. The article focusses primarily on the perspective of the defence. It uncovers a number of ways in which the current procedure for prosecuting racially and religiously aggravated offences creates the potential for improper and inappropriate convictions, while also adversely affecting victims of hate crime. It also considers whether the rights and interests of those accused of hate crime are best served through prosecution of specific hate crime offences or, alternatively, through the application of enhanced sentencing provisions.