Under English law, a riot is defined by the Public Order Act 1986 as twelve or more persons who "together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety". A single person can be liable for an offense of riot when they "use" violence provided that it can be shown there were at least twelve present using "or threatening" violence. The violence can be against the person or against property. This carries the possibility of a fine and a sentence of up to ten years' imprisonment.

If there are fewer than twelve people present, the lesser offense of "Violent Disorder" is charged, for which there is a requirement for at least three persons to use or threaten unlawful violence together. This is defined similarly to riot, but no common purpose is required.

In the past, The Riot Act had to be read by an official - with the wording exactly correct - before any policing action could take place. If the group did not disperse after the act was read, lethal force could legally be used against the crowd.

In recent times nobody has been charged with a Section 1 offense (Riot) in England and Wales. This is because if a Section 1 offense takes place the local police service are regarded as having failed and are liable to pay compensation. The best known example of this is the Poll tax demonstrations of 1990 where nobody was charged with Section 1. All were charged as though a collection of Section 2 (violent disorder involving 3 people) acts had just happened to take place in one location. 

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