Warning some police officers will not have completed training ahead of hate crime launch
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/w...ch-4570189
INTRO: Fears have been raised that not all Police Scotland officers will receive their training before hate crime laws roll out on Monday.
Union bosses have warned that it is “unlikely” all police officers will have received training on how to enforce the controversial hate crime legislation when it rolls out in less than a week.
Police Scotland will begin enforcing the Scottish Government’s Hate Crime Act from Monday after the force previously called for the roll-out to be delayed in order to be better-prepared to deal with the new law.
The law will create new stirring up of hatred offences for protected characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity. These extra provisions will add to the long-standing stirring up racial hatred offences, which have been in place since 1986. Under the law, offences are considered "aggravated" if they are motivated by prejudice on the basis of set characteristics, which could influence sentencing by judges. Crucially, a criminal act must have occurred for the hate crimes aggravator to be applied.
Concerns have been raised that the online training module undertaken is not adequate to prepare front line police officers to deal with the new legislation.
But now, the Scottish Police Federation, the union for rank-and-file officers, has claimed that not all officers will have received their online training before the roll-out begins... (MORE - details)
RELATED (scivillage): Scotland to ban comedy?
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The new legislation will come into force on April 1
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/p...ct-4569579
INTRO: Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which comes into force on the 1st April – a surprising choice of date – is less rushed and radical than some of the Act’s opponents might argue.
The 2021 Act is the culmination of a process starting in 1997, when a senior judge (Lord Bracadale) was asked to conduct an independent review of Scotland’s hate crime laws. Such laws have existed for decades, scattered across different pieces of legislation. The new Act consolidates them in one place, making some important changes at the same time.
In law, hate crime takes two forms.
The first is “aggravations”. If someone does something which is a crime in its own right – such as an assault – it can be labelled as “aggravated” if, in committing the crime, they demonstrate or are motivated by “malice and ill-will” towards a protected characteristic, such as race. Racial aggravation was introduced into the law in 1998: over time, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity have been similarly protected. The new Act adds age to that list. It doesn’t add sex, where the Scottish Government commissioned a review by Helena Kennedy on criminalising misogyny and has committed to bringing standalone legislation forward later this year.
The second form is “stirring up” offences. An offence of stirring up racial hatred has existed since 1965. The new Act creates offences of stirring up hatred against a group defined by reference to a longer list of protected characteristics (age; disability; religion; sexual orientation; transgender identity; variations in sex characteristics). These offences are narrower than the racial hatred one, in particular because they require proof of an intention to stir up hatred (for racial hatred, it is enough that the accused’s behaviour would likely have that result)... (MORE - details
Hate hurts (Scottish government) ... https://youtu.be/LIn80Ka--4Y
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/LIn80Ka--4Y
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/w...ch-4570189
INTRO: Fears have been raised that not all Police Scotland officers will receive their training before hate crime laws roll out on Monday.
Union bosses have warned that it is “unlikely” all police officers will have received training on how to enforce the controversial hate crime legislation when it rolls out in less than a week.
Police Scotland will begin enforcing the Scottish Government’s Hate Crime Act from Monday after the force previously called for the roll-out to be delayed in order to be better-prepared to deal with the new law.
The law will create new stirring up of hatred offences for protected characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity. These extra provisions will add to the long-standing stirring up racial hatred offences, which have been in place since 1986. Under the law, offences are considered "aggravated" if they are motivated by prejudice on the basis of set characteristics, which could influence sentencing by judges. Crucially, a criminal act must have occurred for the hate crimes aggravator to be applied.
Concerns have been raised that the online training module undertaken is not adequate to prepare front line police officers to deal with the new legislation.
But now, the Scottish Police Federation, the union for rank-and-file officers, has claimed that not all officers will have received their online training before the roll-out begins... (MORE - details)
RELATED (scivillage): Scotland to ban comedy?
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The new legislation will come into force on April 1
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/p...ct-4569579
INTRO: Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which comes into force on the 1st April – a surprising choice of date – is less rushed and radical than some of the Act’s opponents might argue.
The 2021 Act is the culmination of a process starting in 1997, when a senior judge (Lord Bracadale) was asked to conduct an independent review of Scotland’s hate crime laws. Such laws have existed for decades, scattered across different pieces of legislation. The new Act consolidates them in one place, making some important changes at the same time.
In law, hate crime takes two forms.
The first is “aggravations”. If someone does something which is a crime in its own right – such as an assault – it can be labelled as “aggravated” if, in committing the crime, they demonstrate or are motivated by “malice and ill-will” towards a protected characteristic, such as race. Racial aggravation was introduced into the law in 1998: over time, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity have been similarly protected. The new Act adds age to that list. It doesn’t add sex, where the Scottish Government commissioned a review by Helena Kennedy on criminalising misogyny and has committed to bringing standalone legislation forward later this year.
The second form is “stirring up” offences. An offence of stirring up racial hatred has existed since 1965. The new Act creates offences of stirring up hatred against a group defined by reference to a longer list of protected characteristics (age; disability; religion; sexual orientation; transgender identity; variations in sex characteristics). These offences are narrower than the racial hatred one, in particular because they require proof of an intention to stir up hatred (for racial hatred, it is enough that the accused’s behaviour would likely have that result)... (MORE - details
Hate hurts (Scottish government) ... https://youtu.be/LIn80Ka--4Y