Justice Secretary has responded to
publication by Police Scotland of data in relation to the Hate
Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which commenced on 1
April 2024.
Justice Secretary said:
“These statistics show that of the significant number of online
hate crime reports made to Police Scotland since 1 April, almost
half came in on the day the new legislation commenced, with the
number of daily complaints falling by 90% within the first week.
These comparison statistics show how vital tackling hate crime is
and how it is not a new issue for Scotland's police and justice
system.
“Police Scotland has been clear that demand continues to be
managed within its contact centres and the impact on frontline
policing has been minimal. I want to thank police staff and
officers for their dedication and professionalism in their work
as this law came into force and for all they do, day in and day
out, to keep our communities safe.
“On a visit to Age Scotland's Scottish Ethnic Minority Older
People Forum, I heard first-hand from those with
direct experience of hatred and prejudice about the traumatic
effect this can have on their lives. The Hate Crime Act does not
prevent people expressing controversial, challenging or offensive
views – nor does it seek to stifle criticism or rigorous debate
in any way, while the right to freedom of expression is built
into the Act. It does however help to tackle the harm caused by
hatred and prejudice, and provide greater protections for people
in society and communities who face hatred just because of who
they are – and we should all want that.”
Background
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act was passed in the
Scottish Parliament by a majority in 2021 and was implemented on
1 April 2024. It introduces new offences for threatening and/or
abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred against a
group of people who possess, or appear to possess,
characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual
orientation, and transgender identity. These new offences have a
higher threshold for a crime to be committed than the
long-standing offence of stirring up racial hatred, which has
been in place since 1986. There are protections in the new Act
for individuals' rights in respect to freedom of expression for
the new stirring up hatred offences. Hate crime is behaviour that
is both criminal and rooted in prejudice and can be verbal,
physical, online or face-to-face. This Act is similar to
legislation in England and Wales which has criminalised stirring
up hatred on grounds of religion since 2007 and sexual
orientation in 2010.
Weekly Hate Crime and Incident
Report - Police Scotland
