SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER Humza Yousaf has said he is “very confident” in the ability of Police Scotland to implement new Scottish hate crime legislation “in the way it should”.

It comes as author JK Rowling criticised the new laws, claiming they were “wide open to abuse” and challenging Scottish police to arrest her if her social media posts were a breach of the legislation.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into effect on Monday, consolidating existing hate crime legislation and creating a new offence of stirring up hatred against protected characteristics.

Scotland’s devolved government has said it is a response to the recommendations of an independent review into hate crime laws and ensures such protections “are fit for the 21st century”.

Protected characteristics under the new laws include age, disability, race, religion and sexual orientation, as well as gender identity.

While women have not been named as one of the protected groups, the Scottish Government has promised to bring forward legislation aimed at tackling misogyny.

Rowling, who has long been a vocal critic of transgender activism, took to X on the day the legislation came into force, saying: “Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.”

The Harry Potter author, who lives in Edinburgh, insisted that the “legislation is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces”.

“It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women’s and girls’ rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man,” she wrote. 

“I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared to back Rowling’s view, telling the Daily Telegraph that his party will “always protect” free speech.

But the Scottish First Minister declared that he is “very proud” of the new laws, saying they will help protect against a “rising tide” of hatred.

Yousaf told UK media: “Scotland having this hate crime legislation, protecting people, giving them that protection of hatred while at the same time, protecting people in terms of the freedom of expression.

“For me, it ensures that we’ve got a piece of legislation that will be enacted and implemented in a way that is absolutely balanced and makes sure it absolutely protects people and their freedom of expression, but guards people from, as I say, that rising tide of hatred we see far too often in our society.”

He said people should only be concerned about the new legislation if their behaviour “is threatening or abusive and intends to stir up hatred”. 

“Unless your behaviour is threatening, or abusive, and intends to stir up hatred, then you have nothing to worry about.”

He also insisted he is “very confident in Police Scotland’s ability in order to implement this legislation in the way it should”.

It comes despite the force confirming more than an third of its officers have not yet completed an online training course in the new laws – with Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs saying that 10,000 of the force’s 16,000 plus officers have done so.

However, Yousaf said Chief Constable Jo Farrell had “made it very clear the appropriate training is absolutely being provided”.

She said recently that the new laws will be applied “in a measured way”, promising there will be “close scrutiny” of how the legislation is enforced and what reports are received.

In Ireland, the Government is currently seeking to implement a proposed Hate Speech Bill. 

The Bill seeks to complement existing laws on hate speech in Ireland by strengthening the legal recognition of hatred in the criminal justice system.

It would create new aggravated forms of a number of existing crimes, where those crimes are proven to be motivated by prejudice against 10 protected characteristics: race; colour; nationality; religion (including the absence of religion); national or ethnic origin; descent; gender; sex characteristics; sexual orientation; and disability.

The Bill has recently attracted criticism from within Fine Gael and from opposition parties such as Sinn Féin, despite all of the party’s TDs voting in favour of the legislation in the Dáil last April. 

Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea called for his party to “abandon” the bill and “stop playing to the woke gallery”, while Fine Gael’s Michael Ring similarly called for the legislation to be scrapped and for Fine Gael to move away from “left-wing” politics.

Last week, former Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said the bill should be “brought back to the drawing board” and that Fine Gael should concentrate on other priorities like housing, health, and law and order.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee is expected to table revisions to the Bill, but it is not clear when that will happen. 

Includes reporting from Press Association and © AFP 2024