RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE AGGRAVATIONS

The legislation that provides for this is section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 which came into force on 27 June 2003.

Under section 74, an offence is aggravated by religious prejudice where the alleged conduct was aggravated by some form of malice or ill will based on the victim's membership of a religious group.

Just as offences can be aggravated by racial motivation they can also be aggravated if motivated by religious prejudice. As with a section 96 racially aggravated offence, this is not a new statutory offence but it is a statutory aggravation that can be added on to a charge.

The statutory aggravation is intended to highlight this element of the charge and to focus public attention and displeasure on it with the possibility of additional sentencing by the judge for this element. If a person is convicted of a section 74 aggravation, this will show up as a previous conviction if there are any further criminal proceedings taken against that person in the future. This legislation should make it easier to monitor the amount of this type of criminal behaviour.

This legislation came from the Scottish Executive cross party working group on religious hatred that was established in November 2001. Its remit was to:

"Consider the need for legislation to combat religious hatred (in particular the creation of a new category of statutory aggravations and the creation of a new offence of incitement to religious hatred) and if appropriate develop effective and workable proposals for legislation to increase the protection to religious groups in Scotland.

Consider whether non-legislative action could be taken as an alternative."

Its members were:

· Dr Richard Simpson MSP (then Minister for Justice), Chair

· Hugh Henry MSP (then Deputy Minister for Social Justice)

· Pauline McNeill MSP

· Lord James Douglas Hamilton MSP

· Donald Gorrie MSP

· Roseanna Cunningham MSP

· Assistant Chief Constable John McLean (Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland)

· Mick Conboy (Commission for Racial Equality)

Officials from the COPFS also participated in the Group's meetings.

The working group published its first report 'Tackling Religious Hatred' in December 2002 and one of its recommendations was to make religious hatred an aggravated offence.

Among the Group's other recommendations were:

· New guidelines to ensure that any element of religious motivation or hatred is fully recorded in police reports and is brought before courts

· Action by football clubs against supporters, such as banning them from grounds or reducing seat allocations to supporters' clubs

· Information-sharing by the clubs, police and courts on fans who are charges with or convicted of offences at or near football grounds

· Licensing of all Street Traders with conditions, which prevent them from selling any offence sectarian material around football matches.

The Working Group has also produced an update report on the work it has carried out so far, building on the recommendations made in the first report.

How does the police report religious aggravated crime?

The Working Group also recommended that the Lord Advocate should issue up-to-date detailed guidelines to the police on their handling of alleged offences to ensure that any element of religious motivation or hatred is fully recorded in their report to the procurator fiscal.

In particular, the guidelines state that the police should, in their reports:

· Indicate the perception of the victim and witness as to the motive for the crime

· Indicate the impact on the victim (and victim's family/community where relevant).

How is religious aggravated crime monitored?