Fears that possessing Bible may be offence under hate crime law

CLERGY: Concerns over proposed new legislation raised by Catholic bishops in Scotland

Scotland’s Catholic bishops have raised concerns that possessing the Bible could become an offence under proposed new hate crime legislation.

The Catholic Church has become the latest organisation to raise its worries about controversial reforms in the Scottish Government’s new Hate Crime Bill.

It has made a submission to MSPs on Holyrood’s Justice Committee, who have been tasked with scrutinising the reforms.

The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland said: “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.”

With section five of the legislation creating an offence of possessing inflammatory material, they fear the “low threshold” in the proposed new laws “could render material such as the Bible... as being inflammatory under the new provision”.

The new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill will, if passed, also create an offence of “stirring up hatred” against a protected group, expanding on existing laws protecting racial groups.

The bishops warned “how hatred is defined is not clear which leaves it open to wide interpretation” – adding this “could lead to vexatious claims having to be dealt with by police”.

In their submission they also stressed “criminalising conduct is a serious step that should not be taken lightly”.

They argued rights to freedom of expression “must be robust enough to protect the freedom to disagree”.

Anthony Horan, director of the Catholic parliamentary office, said: “Whilst acknowledging that stirring up of hatred is morally wrong and supporting moves to discourage and condemn such behaviour, the bishops have expressed concerns about the lack of clarity around definitions and a potentially low threshold for committing an offence, which they fear, could lead to a ‘deluge of vexatious claims’.

“A new offence of possessing inflammatory material could even render material such as the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church ... inflammatory.”

The Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, claimed the Bill – which has also come under fire from opposition politicians – “appears to paralyse freedom of speech in Scotland”.

“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. BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF SCOTLAND

Shutterstock. Senior Catholic clergy in Scotland are concerned over proposed hate crime legislation.