In recent years Parliament has responded to public concern about the operation of the blasphemy law – the expression of contempt or ridicule of sacred Christian truths.
Blasphemy: ancient laws
Until modern times blasphemy had been a common law offence, punishable by imprisonment. The last detention was in 1921.
There were several alleged, and highly publicised infringements of the law in the 1970s, although no action was taken.
Responding in 1989 to Muslim accusations that the author Salman Rushdie’s novel ‘The Satanic Verses’ was blasphemous, a House of Lords committee ruled that the existing laws related only to crimes against Christianity. Offences against any other faith could not be prosecuted.
There was, however, much public feeling that existing laws could no longer fulfil the needs of a modern, multi-faith society.
In 1997 the European Court of Human Rights declared that British blasphemy law was not contrary to freedom of expression but, in 2002, the Court reversed its ruling on another case.
Religious offences
In May 2002 the House of Lords appointed a select committee to examine the law on religious offences. The report, published in June 2003, found that blasphemy law had become unworkable.
Although the committee was undecided about what form the protection of faith should take, it believed strongly that a new law should apply to all beliefs.
Parliament was particularly aware of Muslim community concerns, and in 2006 it passed the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, which created the new offence of inciting hatred against a person on grounds of their religion.
As a result of this new legislation, the old crime of blasphemy was abolished in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act of 2008.