The Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee will begin consideration of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1 and will take evidence from Cabinet Secretary for Justice on Tuesday 27 October. Below are questions to which we suggest…
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The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: Views from Scottish policing
In April 2020 the Scottish Government published the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. The Bill aims to consolidate existing hate crime legislation, introduce new protected characteristics, introduce new provisions for stirring up hatred for all characteristics, and abolish…
Read More The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: Views from Scottish policing
Letter to Sir Bernard Silverman
Letter sent to Sir Bernard Silverman, Chair of the Methodological Assurance Review Panel for the 2021 Census sent by email on Thursday 22 October 2020
WPUK webinar slides ‘Sex and the census’
Presentation given to Woman's Place UK webinar on sex in the census on 18 October 2020.
Back under the radar? A review of plans for the census
This blog looks at recent developments on the framing of the sex question in the next census. TimingThe UK census is undertaken by three separate census authorities: National Records of Scotland (NRS); the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which covers…
Read More Back under the radar? A review of plans for the census
Options for securing consensus on the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill
It has been hard to miss the reaction to the Scottish Government’s proposal in its hate crime bill to extend the crime of ‘stirring up hatred’ to a wider range of situations than now. Currently, “stirring up” offences apply only…
Read More Options for securing consensus on the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill
MurrayBlackburnMackenzie response to the UK Government GRA announcement
Today’s statement by Liz Truss brings much needed clarity on the UK Government’s proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act. We have previously argued that a shift to a system of self-declaration, without the requirement for a diagnosis of gender…
Read More MurrayBlackburnMackenzie response to the UK Government GRA announcement
The Scottish Parliament’s bill process and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill
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
The limits of precedent and the special case of racial hatred
In response to a recent parliamentary question by Labour MSP James Kelly on the proposed stirring up hatred offences in the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, and whether these should be fully deleted or heavily amended, the First…
Read More The limits of precedent and the special case of racial hatred
Submission on the operation of the Lobbying Act 2016
The Scottish Parliament's Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee is currently undertaking post-legislative scrutiny on the operation of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016. Our submission can be found here: MBM submission on Lobbying Act August 2020-converted.
