New law will protect victims of hate crime

Mar 6 2009 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

NEW legislation to protect victims of hate crime is being finalised.

The Scottish Government wants to introduce new legislation to protect victims of crime who are targeted because they are, or are believed to be, gay, transgender or disabled.

Members of the justice committee have agreed that if a crime was motivated by malice and ill-will towards a victim because of his or her actual or presumed sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability, then it should be classed as an aggravated offence.

That means the court must take the motivation of the crime into account when sentencing offenders. It would mean either a longer jail sentence, a higher fine or alternative sentence that addresses attitudes leading to hate crime.

Committee Convener Bill Aitken MSP said: “The committee, whilst acknowledging concerns raised by groups about the creation of a hierarchy of victims’ rights, believes, on balance, that it is appropriate to create these new statutory aggravations.

“Although it is already possible under the existing common law to take the motivations of an offender into account when determining sentence and we know that courts do use these powers, we hope the Bill will ensure that the existence of any aggravations will be dealt with more consistently and appropriately.”

A full parliamentary debate on stage one of the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill is set to take place in April.