ABSTRACT
The last decade of the twentieth century saw an increasing political and social concern with criminal behaviour motivated by racism, and latterly by religious intolerance. In response to a perceived rise in racially motivated offending across Europe and a general shift in social attitudes regarding the abhorrence of crimes motivated by bigotry, the UK followed a number of other European countries by introducing specific legislation to combat it. The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, later amended by the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001, contains provisions for additional penalties to be imposed by the courts to nine pre-existing offences where it can be proved that those offences were racially or religiously motivated or aggravated either in whole or in part. In other words, not only is the offence punished but also the specific motivation behind it.
