This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Steps to stamp out sectarianism
05/12/2002
Sectarian bigotry and religious hatred have no place in 21st Century Scotland, Ministers emphasised today.
A new law is proposed to make religious hatred an aggravated offence. There are also further proposals to improve the way the justice system deals with offences, and to change culture and attitudes.
First Minister Jack McConnell and Justice Minister Jim Wallace were in Glasgow, at the Museum of Religion, to publish the report by the cross-party working group on religious hatred.
The Executive is now seeking views on the report's recommendations which include:
- 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 charged with or convicted of offences at or near football grounds
- Licensing of all Street Traders with conditions which prevent them from selling any offensive sectarian material around football matches
Mr McConnell said:
"Modern Scotland must challenge bigoted attitudes and bigoted behaviour wherever they are found.
"These measures signal our determination that Scotland will no longer tolerate acts of religious hatred. We will act to toughen the law so that courts can more severely punish crimes motivated by sectarianism.
"The report also proposes that football clubs, the police and prosecutors systematically identify and ban people spreading religious hatred inside and outside football stadiums. I want action on these proposals and I am also committed to supporting the Old Firm's ideas for initiatives in schools.
"I want Scotland to be a society where we respect cultural differences and celebrate our rich and diverse religious traditions. I want all Scots to be proud of the Scotland we live in today.
"We need to put sectarianism in the dust-bin of history. Scotland must play a full part in Europe and the global economy, so we cannot allow ourselves to be dragged down by the dead-weight of religious hatred and sectarian bigotry."
Mr Wallace said:
"The Scottish Executive is coming off the sidelines on the issue of sectarianism and religious hatred crime and saying enough is enough.
"We will move decisively on this now to remove the dark spectre of religious hatred, particularly sectarianism, which still has the potential to divide communities in Scotland.
"At the forefront of the Executive's action plan is the support of an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, currently before the Scottish Parliament.
"Tackling sectarianism and religious intolerance is exactly the kind of issue that the Scottish Parliament, working with the Scottish people, needs to focus on, and I would like to thank the cross-party Working Group and all those who contributed to this important report."
The Working Group on Possible Legislation to Tackle Religious Hatred recommended that legislation should be considered as part of a package of other measures.
- 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
- The Crown Office should update its guidelines to prosecutors to ensure that any religious elements in an offence are brought before the court
- The SE should commission research which will provide a statistical and descriptive baseline of incidents of religious and sectarian hatred
- The football clubs should take action against supporters indulging in insulting sectarian behaviour, for example by excluding them from the ground for one or more matches through the confiscation of season tickets or reducing seat allocations to supporters' clubs where a member of that club has behaved in an unacceptable way
- The police, Procurators Fiscal and football clubs should share information in order to identify and deal with those supporters who are charged with or convicted of offences at or near football grounds including those involving an element of religious hatred
- That all local authorities should license Street Traders and should use their powers to attach conditions to such licences preventing street traders from selling any offensive sectarian material in the context of football matches. The police should monitor the adherence of street traders to the terms of their licence and report any breaches to the local Authority who should act by suspension of licence
- That there must be inter-agency co-ordination and monitoring at the highest level, with a snapshot report to be presented to the Executive and to Parliament after a year
Closing date for responses to the report's recommendations is March 14, 2003.
The Working Group was set up in November 2001. Its members were:
- Dr Richard Simpson MSP, (then Deputy 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)
The Executive has funded Nil by Mouth with £25,000 per year over three years. It has also provided over £900,000 for increased security at places of ethnic minority community worship after September 11, 2001.