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Chapter Four: Recommendations
4.1 In order to gain a more robust evidence base it is recommended that:
- COPFS and the Scottish Police Service should consider ways of including consistent information about the nature of the religious aggravation in all cases where it is relevant. Details of the motive of the crime, from the accused, police and victim/witnesses perception, should be sought. Details regarding whether the accused and/or victim/witnesses were, or were not, under the influence of alcohol should be explicitly documented. Similarly, whether a football match or the support of a particular football team and/or a march or parade is, or is not, related to the incident should be explicitly documented. This would allow a more robust assessment of the association between Section 74 aggravations and these factors.
- COPFS and the Scottish Police Service should consider a mechanism to ensure consistent recording of aggravation codes.
- Future research should consider collecting information from police reports in a format that is easily associated with the electronic data collected by COPFS on progress through the court system. Consideration should be given to tracking accused and/or charges rather than cases.
- Further research could consider conducting some research around the operation and impact of Section 74. This could include:
- The implementation of Section 74 in police forces areas;.
- Underlying beliefs and motivations of those convicted of religiously aggravated offences could be examined through further research in order to establish an understanding of the issues from an offenders' perspective.
- The impact of the legislation on offenders and their offending
- The sentencing patterns in religiously aggravated cases.
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