Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 15 December 2020
Absolutely—I accept that. However, the committee received a pile of evidence to the effect that we need to think not just about what happens in the criminal courts, but about what happens in police investigations. Speaking for myself, I say that I want to ensure that we do not have unnecessary police investigations on the basis of, for example, a flimsy allegation that somebody has engaged in transphobia when no reasonable person would have arrived at that conclusion. That is the force of my concern.
I am nearing the end of my remarks, and I have focused so far on only one aspect of the bill—namely, the stirring-up offences. Although that is the most contentious aspect of the bill, other provisions in the bill will have far greater practical effects. On that, we are all agreed. Offences that are aggravated by prejudice harm not only the immediate victim, but communities at large. As such, they should attract an aggravated-offence sentence. The committee agrees with the cabinet secretary that judges should be transparent about that in their sentencing decisions.
Hate crimes are better understood as focusing on the particular vice of prejudice, rather than on broader considerations of vulnerability, but it should be for Parliament in legislation, and not for ministers in regulations, to determine hate crime.
The bill does not include sex as a hate crime characteristic; sharply contrasting views about that were presented to the committee in evidence. On balance, we think it prudent to await the conclusions of the newly established working group on misogynistic harassment before legislating in the area. We warmly welcome the appointment of Helena Kennedy to chair that working group.
There is a lot more to be said, but the clock is against me. I hope that I have given a flavour of the committee’s work on the bill. Our report is lengthy and detailed, for which I make no apology. The 390 paragraphs of our report were designed with one objective in sight: to shine a light on the bill and on its strengths and its limitations, rather than to generate yet more heat about what has been a very contested measure.
The committee could not have done that without the open-mindedness and fair-mindedness that each and every member of the committee brought to the inquiry. We could not have done it without the extraordinary dedication, high standards and professionalism of the committee’s brilliant clerking team, which is led by Stephen Imrie and Katrina Venters. Most of all, we could not have done it without the help and support of the hundreds of Scots who engaged in the law-making process and who gave evidence. I thank them all.
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