Progress on Move to Extend 'Hate Crimes' Legislation [Url=#notes][sup]1[/sup][/url]
Tue., December 10, 2002. 00:00.
Robin Harper MSP and campaigners against 'hate crimes' were buoyed to hear Solicitor General Elish Angiolini make strong case this morning to the Scottish Parliament's Justice 2 Committee, for Scots law to be extended to include offences aggravated by religious prejudice [sup]2[/sup]. Robin Harper said the Solicitor's General arguments could also be applied directly to offences aggravated by a victim's disability, sexual orientation, gender or age.
Robin Harper MSP and campaigners against 'hate crimes' were buoyed to hear Solicitor General Elish Angiolini make strong case this morning to the Scottish Parliament's Justice 2 Committee, for Scots law to be extended to include offences aggravated by religious prejudice [sup]2[/sup]. Robin Harper said the Solicitor's General arguments could also be applied directly to offences aggravated by a victim's disability, sexual orientation, gender or age.
When questioned by Robin Harper MSP as to whether the law should also be extended to cover disability, sexual orientation, gender and age, the Solicitor General expressed sympathy with the proposal. She said she recognised that there were 'horrendous' crimes motivated by hatred towards these groups and that the proposal needed more time for consideration.
A decision by the Scottish Parliament's Justice 2 Committee as to whether Robin Harper MSP's proposal to extend the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill to cover laws governing so-called 'hate crimes' has been postponed until tomorrow morning (Wednesday) [sup]3[/sup].
Following the meeting, Robin Harper MSP said:
[blockquote] 'I was very encouraged by the Solicitor General's evidence this morning. She spelled out very clearly why existing common law is inadequate to deal with crime aggravated by religious hatred and why it needs to be changed. These reasons apply equally to crime directed towards the disabled, gays and lesbians, older people and women. What I am proposing is that, if the law is extended to include religious bigotry, why not extended it to include these groups, groups that are very specific targets of hate crime.
'The Solicitor General was clearly sympathetic to the proposal that other specific groups of people could be protected further by law. As the Solicitor General noted, there is a real problem of a disproportionate level of offences towards these groups, some of them, in her own words are horrendous. And I am pleased she said the proposal to extend the law should be given further consideration. I'm certainly hoping that the committee will give this proposal careful consideration tomorrow.'
[/blockquote]Mr Harper rejected criticism that including the four other groups, as well as race and religion, was a step too far, saying:
[blockquote] 'These are the six groups for which prejudice and discrimination are recognised to occur across Europe and in Scotland. They are the six groups mentioned in EU Treaty Article 13 on combating discrimination, and they are the six groups about which the UK Government is currently legislating to stop discrimination at work.'
[/blockquote]Mr Harper's amendment is supported by a wide range of groups including the Equality Network, Capability Scotland, SAMH (the Scottish Association for Mental Health), Sense Scotland, Engender and Age Concern.
[h3 id=""]NOTES[/h3]
- For further background see previous SGP news release, www.scottishgreens.org.uk/news/2002/dec/021210hatecrime.htm
- The Solicitor General explained two main reasons why statutory prejudice-based aggravation should be introduced even though the common law already allows prejudice-based aggravation to be included in the complaint or indictment, and taken into account on sentencing. These were:
- That the record of the conviction will only include the aggravation, if the aggravation is statutory. It is important that the record does clearly include the aggravation because convictions are taken into account in sentencing for future offences, and are taken into account when considering people for work with vulnerable people, and because people do not want to have a record for a prejudice-aggravated offence, and so this acts as a disincentive to commit such offences;
- That at the moment the Crown Office cannot properly monitor the incidence of prejudice-aggravated offences (except racially-aggravated ones where the aggravation is already statutory). This is because common law aggravation is not recorded in a consistent, easily noticeable way, whereas statutory aggravation is, allowing it to be monitored. Both these arguments apply to offences aggravated by prejudice on the other four grounds as well as on racial and religious grounds.
- Amendments 156 and 172 in the name of Robin Harper will be considered at the Justice 2 Committee, 11 December 2002. The Committee will meet at 9.45 am in the Chamber, Assembly Hall, The Mound, Edinburgh.
- Robin Harper's proposed amendments are similar to Donald Gorrie MSP's proposed amendments to the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, which is seeking to outlaw crimes motivated by religious hatred. Crime aggravated by racial hatred is already outlawed. ^ top
CONTACT
Robin Harper MSP 0131 348 5927 or 07957 337 176 Steve Burgess, Researcher 0131 348 5955 or 07887 682 574
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Contact the Scottish Greens' press team on 07909 933 074.