Repeated unwanted contact, following or online monitoring can be unlawful even when no single act looks serious. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 creates both criminal offences and a civil claim for damages and injunctions. This guide covers the provisions of the Act that legislation.gov.uk marks as applying to England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements.
What the Act prohibits
Section 1 provides that a person must not pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another and which they know or ought to know amounts to harassment. The “ought to know” test is objective: it is met if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the conduct amounted to harassment. A separate prohibition in section 1(1A) covers a course of conduct involving harassment of two or more people, intended to persuade any person not to do something they are entitled to do or to do something they are not obliged to do. Section 7 explains that harassing a person includes alarming them or causing distress, that “conduct” includes speech, and that a course of conduct involving a single person must occur on at least two occasions.
Defences
Section 1(3) says the prohibition does not apply if the person shows that the conduct was pursued to prevent or detect crime, was pursued under an enactment or rule of law or to comply with a condition or requirement imposed under an enactment, or that in the particular circumstances it was reasonable. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance adds that the fewer the occasions and the wider they are spread, the less likely it is reasonable to find a course of conduct, citing case law.
The criminal offences
Section 2 makes pursuing a course of conduct in breach of section 1 an offence, punishable on summary conviction by up to six months’ imprisonment, a fine not exceeding level 5, or both. Section 2A creates the separate offence of stalking, where the conduct amounts to harassment, involves acts or omissions associated with stalking, and the person knows or ought to know it amounts to harassment. The examples in the Act include following a person, contacting or attempting to contact them by any means, publishing material about them, monitoring their internet or email use, loitering, interfering with their property and watching or spying. The maximum on summary conviction is 51 weeks, a level 5 fine, or both.
Section 4 covers a course of conduct that causes another person to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against them. It carries up to ten years’ imprisonment on indictment. The CPS guidance says the offences appear in sections 2, 2A, 4 and 4A, and that for the summary offences an information must be laid within six months of the last incident in the course of conduct.
The civil claim
Section 3 lets the victim, or a person who may become a victim, bring a claim in civil proceedings for an actual or apprehended breach of section 1(1). Damages can be awarded for, among other things, any anxiety caused and any financial loss resulting from the harassment. If the High Court or the county court grants an injunction restraining harassment and the claimant considers it has been breached, the claimant may apply for an arrest warrant, which can be issued only if the application is substantiated on oath and the judge has reasonable grounds for believing the defendant did something the injunction prohibited. Breach of an injunction without reasonable excuse is itself an offence, punishable on indictment by up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine, or on summary conviction by up to six months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum. Under section 3(7) and (8), conduct that leads to a conviction for breaching an injunction cannot also be punished as contempt of court, and conduct already punished as contempt cannot lead to a conviction.
The guides on the small claims court and help with court fees cover practical points for anyone considering court action.
Stalking Protection Orders
The CPS explains that the Stalking Protection Act 2019 introduced Stalking Protection Orders, which are civil orders made on the police’s application to a magistrates’ court. They can contain prohibitions and positive requirements to protect a victim from the risk of stalking, and the CPS is responsible for prosecuting breaches. The CPS also notes that where another offence such as controlling or coercive behaviour overlaps, prosecutors consider the conduct as a whole when choosing charges. Domestic settings have their own injunctions, explained in the guide to domestic abuse injunctions.
FAQs
Is one unwanted message harassment?
Not under section 7, which requires a course of conduct on at least two occasions for conduct involving a single person.
Can harassment be pursued in a civil court instead of the police?
Yes. Section 3 allows a civil claim for damages and an injunction, separate from any prosecution.
Does the Act cover online conduct?
Section 7 says conduct includes speech, and section 2A lists monitoring internet or email use and publishing material about a person as examples associated with stalking.
The bottom line
The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 protects people in England and Wales from repeated conduct that alarms or distresses them, through criminal offences of harassment, stalking and putting people in fear of violence, and through a civil claim for damages and injunctions. At least two occasions are needed for a course of conduct against one person. Anyone experiencing harassment can report it to the police or take legal advice; in an emergency call 999. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk, “Protection from Harassment Act 1997, section 1: Prohibition of harassment”
- legislation.gov.uk, “Protection from Harassment Act 1997, section 2A: Offence of stalking”
- legislation.gov.uk, “Protection from Harassment Act 1997, section 3: Civil remedy”
- legislation.gov.uk, “Protection from Harassment Act 1997, section 7: Interpretation”
- Crown Prosecution Service, “Stalking or Harassment” (legal guidance)