Balaclavas are legal to wear in the UK and Ireland, but the UK government is seeking to change the law to ban face coverings during protests. The issue has been highlighted after two high-profile incidents this week.
Attack in North Lanarkshire
A man is in hospital with serious injuries after being attacked by men wearing black balaclavas in an attempted murder in North Lanarkshire. Officers were called to a report of a man found seriously injured after being attacked by men with weapons at around 1.30pm on Monday. Police said the suspects, who were all wearing black balaclavas, left the scene in a grey SUV, and police are treating it as attempted murder.
M9 crash in Ireland
Days earlier, five teenagers died and four other people were seriously injured in a crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a motorway in Co Kildare, Ireland. According to the Irish Mirror, the occupants of a high-powered BMW were all wearing balaclavas or masks when it ploughed head-on into a family's car on the M9 early on Sunday morning.
Current rules and proposed changes
Wearing a balaclava is not illegal in the UK or in the Republic of Ireland under current rules. Individual local councils can issue ASB orders which make it an offence to wear one in a designated area under Public Spaces Protection Order powers. In Ireland, wearing a face covering can legally result in a stop and search, unlike in the UK, but is not banned outright.
In 2025, some MPs called for a ban on wearing balaclavas in public spaces. Labour MP David Taylor asked in Parliament: "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the wearing of balaclavas in public spaces."
This was answered by Labour's Dame Diana Johnson on March 20, 2025, who said: "Face coverings have a variety of legitimate purposes and as such the Government does not support a general ban on the wearing of balaclavas or other types of face coverings in public. However, the Crime and Policing Bill contains a new criminal offence of wearing, or otherwise using, an item that conceals identity in an area designated by police due to the risk of criminal activity taking place at protests. This will enable the police to put a stop to individuals hiding behind masks to avoid conviction for criminal activity at protests."
Ministry of Justice proposals
A proposal put forward in the Crime and Policing Bill would make it illegal to wear balaclavas during public protests in the UK. The Ministry of Justice proposals, issued in May 2026, state: "A new criminal offence which prohibits the wearing or otherwise using of an item that conceals identity when in an area designated by police under the new provisions. This measure will criminalise the act of wearing or otherwise using an item (for instance a face covering) that conceals their or another person's identity when in an area that the police have designated. A designation can only be made in relation to an area when the police reasonably believe that a protest may or is taking place in that area, the protest is likely to involve or has involved the commission of offences and that a designation would prevent or control the commission of offences. The offence will carry a maximum penalty of one month imprisonment, a £1000 fine, or both."
But it stresses that this new law would only apply in designated areas defined by police during protests, and not generally. It would also exempt medical face coverings and religious clothing items. In Ireland, where the M9 crash took place, wearing a balaclava is also legal and is not explicitly a criminal offence under any specific law. However, while wearing a balaclava on the street is legal, it does give the Irish Police (An Garda Síochána) reasonable grounds to stop and search someone under suspicion of criminal intent according to the Irish Times.
