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Section history

Section 74 — Enhanced penalties for racially or religiously aggravated offences

Consolidated view is experimental and may be broken for certain provisions.

Amendments
74.Enhanced penalties for racially or religiously aggravated offences

(1)Where a person is convicted of an offence specified in subsection (2) which is racially or religiously aggravated, the court may sentence the person to one and a half2 times the amount of punishment to which he would otherwise have been liable for that offence.

(2)The offence referred to in subsection (1) is as follows:

(a)an offence under section 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 151, 153, 158, 267B, 267C, 323, 324, 325, 341, 342, 343, 344, 346, 352, 354, 355, 357, 363A, 376ED, 376EE, 377BA, 377BB, 377BC, 377BD, 377BE, 377BF, 504, 505, 506, 507 or 509 or 507; orthis Code except sections 298 and 298A, and an offence which is punishable with death or imprisonment for life;

(b)an offence of attempting to commit, abetting the commission of, or being a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit, any offence under paragraph (a).

Subsection (3) — Original text to 1 November 2022superseded

(3)NotwithstandingDespite anything to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68)2010 —

(a)a Magistrate’s Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all proceedings for the offences punishable under sections 143, 151, 153, 323, 343, 344, 346, 354(1), 355, 504, 505 and 507 and shall have power to award the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of those offences; and

(b)a District Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all proceedings for the offences punishable under sections 144, 145, 147, 148, 158, 267C, 324, 325, 354(2), 363A and 506 and shall have power to award the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of those offences.

Subsection (3) — From 1 November 2022 (current)rewritten by Maintenance of Religious Harmony (Amendment) Act 2019, Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2021

(3)Despite anything to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010† —

(a)a Magistrate’s Court —

(i)has jurisdiction to try any offence specified in subsection (2), where no imprisonment is prescribed or where twice the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed for the offence does not exceed 5 years; and

(ii)has power to impose the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of the offence; and

(b)a District Court —

(i)has jurisdiction to try any offence specified in subsection (2); and

(ii)has power to impose the full punishment provided under subsection (1) in respect of the offence.

(4)For the purposes of this section, an offence is racially or religiously aggravated if —

(a)at the time of committing the offence, or immediately before or after committing such offence, the offender demonstrates towards the victim of the offence hostility based on the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a racial or religious group; or

(b)the offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group based on their membership of that group.

(5)It is immaterial for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (4) whether or not the offender’s hostility is also based, to any extent, on any other factor not mentioned in that paragraph.

(6)In this section —

“membership”, in relation to a racial or religious group, includes association with members of that group;

“presumed” means presumed by the offender.

[UK CDA 1998, s. 28(1) to (3)]