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WORKING GROUP ON HATE CRIME REPORT
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 This report sets out the recommendations of the Working Group on Hate Crime to the Scottish Ministers. These are based on the detailed work undertaken by the Group and on the responses to a consultation paper issued by the Group in January 2004.
1.2 The Working Group on Hate Crime was set up by the Scottish Executive in June 2003 to consider the most appropriate measures needed to combat crime based on hatred towards social groups. This followed on from the provision introduced by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 of a statutory religious hatred aggravation. 2 At the time this provision was being considered, a number of MSPs and others suggested that other groups should be protected in a similar way. The Working Group on Hate Crime was set up to consider this issue. 3 We had the following remit:
" To look at the current criminal justice system and consider improvements, including legislation, which might be made to deal with crimes based on hatred towards social groups."
1.3 We met 8 times between June 2003 and August 2004 and received presentations from:
- the Commission for Racial Equality
- the Scottish Refugee Council
- the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)
- the Police
- the Scottish Executive's Violence Against Women Unit
- Victim Information and Advice (VIA) and
- the Scottish Executive's Criminal Procedure Division.
1.4 We had a number of detailed discussions on the nature of the crimes we were examining. Although the phrase "hate crime" has been used to describe the Working Group and its work, this has been used as a form of shorthand for the type of crime being discussed. We agreed the following definition of hate crime:
" Crime motivated by malice or ill-will towards a social group. "
1.5 The expression of "malice and ill-will" is used in other existing legislation against racism and religious hatred, and provides a more suitable and subtle definition of this type of crime than the stronger term "hatred". Indeed, the use of the phrase "hate crime" was raised by a number of the consultation respondents, who expressed concern about using the term "hate" in any future legislation because of the difficulty in proving hatred.
1.6 We also concluded that hate crime is based on the motivation of malice or ill-will towards a social group. This means that the question of whether the victim of a hate crime belongs to a particular social group or not is irrelevant, for example, whether a victim of a homophobic attack is actually gay or not. It is the motivation of the offender which is important.
1.7 We faced a problem from the start in the absence of official data on the particular hate crimes
we were examining. There is no consistent mechanism used by the Police and the Crown Office for counting hate crimes against groups not covered by existing legislation. While the Crown Office did point out that a flagging and tagging system could be set up to monitor such crimes, this would obviously take time. Because of this, we relied on evidence gathered from research and surveys.
1.8 There is a webpage on the Scottish Executive website that contains more information about the Working Group on Hate Crime, including the minutes of its meetings. The website address is: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/JD/CJ/00017915/wg_papers.aspx
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