New Hate Crime Bill – freedom to disagree must be protected, say Scotland's Bishops indcatholicnews.com

Source: SCMO

The Bishops' Conference of Scotland has responded to the Scottish Government's new Hate Crime and Public Order Bill. In a submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee the Conference has stated that any new law must be 'carefully weighed against fundamental freedoms, such as the right to free speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.'

The bill proposes to modernise, consolidate and extend hate crime legislation in Scotland, including introducing a new offence of stirring up hatred, possession of inflammatory material, and new protection of freedom of expression provisions in relation to religion and sexual orientation…