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46. There has been speculation that the diversity and lack of focus which is one of the strengths of breach of the peace, might leave it open to challenge under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, there is an established definition of the crime (see paragraph 10) and clear guidance has been issued to Procurators Fiscal including a style of charge to be used in cases of harassment. This enables the police to record convictions in a way that displays the nature of the offence as harassment, which will be useful as background in any subsequent legal proceedings. It also ensures that the libel is sufficiently specific. The Scottish Executive considers, therefore, that it is unlikely that using breach of the peace to cover cases of harassment and stalking would be susceptible to successful challenge under the ECHR.
47. Clearly there are arguments both for and against the introduction of a statutory offence.
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