In this inquiry, we will do that, but the cabinet secretary indicated to Parliament earlier in the autumn that he wished to propose amendments to aspects of the bill at stage 2, and the committee wants to understand exactly what the implications of those amendments are before we get under way with our stage 1 evidence from external stakeholders.
You are all very welcome.īefore we get under way, I want to explain that it is very unusual to start a stage 1 inquiry with evidence from the responsible minister-normally, we take evidence from the responsible minister at the end. I welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf, and his various officials, some of whom are joining us in the room and some of whom are joining us remotely online. We have no apologies this morning.Īgenda item 1 is stage 1 consideration of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. Good morning, and welcome to the 25th meeting of the Justice Committee in 2020. You can find out more in the Explanatory Notes document that explains the Bill. The Bill also abolishes the offence of blasphemy which has not been prosecuted in Scotland for more than 175 years. The Bill creates a new crime of stirring up hatred against any of the protected groups covered by the Bill. This Bill adds age to that list and allows sex to be added at a later date. People are currently protected by specific laws on the basis of: Also, people are protected from hate crime through specific laws that apply. It also adds to the groups currently specifically protected by hate crime laws.Ĭriminal courts can generally take into account any prejudice when sentencing a person. It updates these existing laws and pulls most of these laws into one Bill.
There are already laws in place to protect certain groups from hate crime.
Hate crime is the phrase used to describe behaviour which is both criminal and based on prejudice.
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