The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force today and aims to tackle the harm caused by hatred by providing greater protection for victims and communities.
Furious protesters have staged a rally outside the Scottish Parliament in opposition to the SNP's controversial new hate crime laws.
And JK Rowling unleashed fury when she sarcastically told her followers on X, formerly Twitter, to 'respect the pronouns' of trans woman and double rapist Isla Bryson. The new laws sparked a furious response by concerns Scots out their national parliament, with many holding up gender critical slogans.
She said Samantha Norris - a transgender charity worker who was jailed for possessing thousands of 'abhorrent' child abuse images - was 'still a lady to me'. The Harry Potter author ridiculed the legislation a string of tweets on X where she sarcastically urged her followers to respect 'lovely Scottish lass' Isla Bryon - a convicted double rapist
She added: 'I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.' Bryson was jailed for eight years in 2023 after being found guilty of raping two women while still a man Yet human rights campaigner Peter Thatchall slammed the decision not to include women under the new law calling it an 'astonishing exclusion'.Mr Thatchall went on to criticse the new law for allowing third-party reporting: 'With anonymity being granted, this could open the door to vexatious and malicious complainants who will go after people and use the third-party centre as a way of getting back at people.
Ch Supt Hay warned that public trust in police could be harmed. He told BBC Radio Scotland's The Sunday Show: 'If you have hopes of the police intervening at a particular level and actually the criminal threshold isn't met then potentially you are going to be disappointed and lose trust in the police.
Scotland's minister for victims and community safety Siobhian Brown said it was up to the police to decide whether someone would be arrested for misgendering Critics, many of whom including the Harry Potter author hold gender-critical views, have said it would be weaponised against them. Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell, speaking at a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority board, said the force would apply the Act 'in a measured way'.
The act says a person can be found guilty if they communicate material or behave in a way 'that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive', with the intention of stirring up hatred based on the protected characteristics. Summary convictions dealt with in magistrates' courts will be able to carry prison terms of up to 12 months as well as fines, while more serious offenders who are indicted and handled in crown courts could be jailed for as many as seven years while also facing potential fines.
These are called 'protected characteristics': age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and 'variations in sex characteristics' .It is conduct which encourages others to hate a particular group of people. ill-will' can be shown towards someone with 'protected characteristics' – for example if someone is assaulted because of their race or disability.A 'reasonable person' is an ordinary citizen, famously referred to by Lord Devlin as the 'man on the Clapham omnibus' – and it is a test used in other areas of the law.or prosecutor has to put themselves in the position of a 'reasonable person' to make a judgment about potentially unlawful comments or behaviour.
The offence of stirring up racial hatred can be committed not only where behaviour or communication is threatening or abusive, but also where it is insulting.For these categories, it is not an offence if actions or speech are merely insulting – they would have to be threatening or abusive and intended to stir up hatred.'Discussion or criticism' of religion is permitted under the Act – together with 'expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule or insult'.
Professor Tomkins, a legal expert at Glasgow University, backed the broad principles of the Act – but ultimately voted against it while an MSP over the extension of its reach to people's homes.Police Scotland insists it will not 'target' actors and stand-up comedians who take part in productions or make jokes which could be considered to contravene the Act.
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