Muslims,Ethnicity and the Law

Abstract

This paper examines the meaning of the term ‘ethnic origins’ to be found in Section 3(1) of the Race Relations Act (1976) and Section 17 of the Public Order Act (1986) with particular reference to the position of Muslims under the legislation. In recent years several cases have suggested that to discriminate against someone on the grounds of their being a Muslim or to incite hatred towards them on that ground does not contravene either the Race Relations Act (1976) or the Public Order Act (1986). This article argues that the criteria established by the House of Lords in Mandla (Sewa Singh) and another v Dowell Lee and Others [1983] 2 AC 548 are sufficiently broad to recognise British Muslims as a distinct ‘ethnic group’ if interpreted in a purposive manner and that such an interpretation is not only desirable but necessary to combat the growing problem of racial discrimination and hatred directed against Britain's Muslim population.