Independent review of hate crime legislation
Overview
Lord Bracadale has been appointed by the Scottish Ministers to undertake an independent review of hate crime legislation in Scotland. He is looking at the existing offences that come under the umbrella of “hate crime” so that he can form a view as to how well the present law works; whether changes need to be made; whether the offences should be extended to cover other groups; and whether all hate crimes should be brought into one area of legislation. More information about the current legislation.
Lord Bracadale wishes to reach out to as many individuals as possible who may have information to give and views to share with him in this important task. As part of this process, he has prepared a short questionnaire for you to answer which will allow him better to understand what people identify as hate crime and learn about personal experiences and the impact that hate crime has had on those affected. This includes hate crime committed online.
This is designed to be a quick survey which captures your views and should not take too much time to complete. We suggest that you use no more than 350 words for each section. Please contact the secretariat if this causes any issues for you.
How this information is being used
Your responses will help Lord Bracadale identify the relevant issues that he should address when he produces his consultation paper over the summer. The consultation paper will explore a wide range of issues, including what type of conduct should be identified as hate crime for the purpose of the criminal law and whether the current law meets this need. You will also have the opportunity to tell us more about your experiences of reporting hate crimes and your expectations of the criminal justice system.
Confidentiality
The information you supply is solely for the purposes of the independent review and will be held in confidence unless you indicate that you are happy for us to include some anonymous quotes from your response in our consultation paper. We will analyse key issues and thoughts from the questionnaire and these will be summarised within the consultation paper.
If you would rather share your experiences by another means, please contact Lord Bracadale’s team.
Please note that by submitting this information you are not reporting a crime: please contact the police on 101 if you wish to do so. Information about support available to victims of crime and their families.
Interests
- Law and Order