united-kingdom religion crime
Definition of &quot;religious belief&quot; under the UK Crime and Disorder Act 1998
<p>The UK's 1998 <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/37" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Crime and Disorder Act</a> defines &quot;religious group&quot;:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In this section “religious group” means a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It does not appear to define &quot;religious belief&quot; anywhere. Does anyone know if this draws on other legislation or perhaps if there is any relevant case law relevant to its definition?</p>

<p>This is a partial answer as it doesn't address the religious aspect.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grainger_plc_v_Nicholson" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Grainger plc v Nicholson</a> may be of relevance. That case was about <a href="https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/convention_eng.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights</a> (freedom of religion or belief) and focussed on the belief element rather than the religion element. The court held that the following criteria must be met for something to be a belief under the ECHR:</p>
<ol>
<li>The belief is genuinely held.</li>
<li>It is a belief and not an opinion or viewpoint.</li>
<li>It relates to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour.</li>
<li>It must attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance.</li>
<li>It must be worthy of respect in a democratic society, be not incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others.</li>
</ol>
<p>These are known as the Grainger criteria and are also of relevance in relation to <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010</a>.</p>
