This blog summarises why the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill needs to provide clearer protection for freedom of expression than is currently proposed by the Scottish Government. Some commentators have suggested that the Bill will criminalise making basic…
Read More The thin blue line: What inadequate protection for freedom of expression means in practice
Our response to the Justice Committee's emergency consultation on freedom of expression in Bill is provided below. A PDF version of the briefing can be downloaded here. The Issue Our concern is whether the law will provide a clear point…
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill extends the existing offence of "stirring up hatred" in relation to race, to a wider range of characteristics. As described here, the Justice Committee agreed with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on…
The omission of ‘sex’ as a protected characteristic is a key area of contention in the proposed Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, which is currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament. Giving evidence to the Justice Committee…
Read More Legislating for hatred against women: the view from the coalface
We have submitted supplementary evidence to the Justice Committee in the light of (a) an open letter currently circulating which has been signed by a number of parliamentarians and others (b) the Cabinet Secretary’s comments at the Justice Committee hearing…
Read More Supplementary evidence on the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill
Discussing the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill at the Justice Committee on 24 November, the Cabinet Secretary Humza Yousaf argued that he did not think a person would be committing a criminal offence in stating that sex is…
Read More The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: a reassurance that does not reassure
This is a post setting out how the Scottish Parliament handles government bills, and what that means for the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. A Bill is the draft form of an act of parliament. An Act of…
Read More The Scottish Parliament’s bill process and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill
On what now seems like a lifetime ago, 9 March, we met officials from the Scottish Government to discuss the consultation on the draft Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Our meeting was with a senior official responsible for this area and…
Read More GRA Reform: Meeting with Scottish Government officials 9 March 2020
We have submitted our response to the Scottish Government's consultation on on GRA reform. Our full consultation response is here, and the key points are summarised below. IntroductionSome people who wish to change their legal sex report that the current application…
Read More Our response to the Scottish GRA reform consultation
This blog looks at the potential UK wide effects of gender recognition reform in Scotland. Although the Scottish Government's consultation paper does not include a specific discussion of the cross-border implications, the provisions in the draft Bill suggest that a…
