Offensive Behaviour at Football Act to be reviewed by Judge

[BrahimHemdani 1]

Where are all the opponents of the Act? Thought there would be at least 100 posts on here by now.

 

A judge will conduct an independent review of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act and other "hate crime"*legislation, the Scottish Government has announced.

Lord Bracadale will conduct the review, which could last up to 12 months, to ensure the act and other legislation is fit for the 21st century.

 

The review will begin on January 30 and Lord Bracadale will present his recommendations to the Scottish Government.

 

The SNP is the only party in Holyrood that supports the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.

 

Labour MSP James Kelly is currently pursuing a private members' bill which aims to repeal and replace the act.

 

Lord Bracadale's review will also examine the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act 2009.

 

Announcing the review in the Scottish Parliament, the minister for community safety and legal affairs Annabelle Ewing said: "Racism, intolerance and prejudice of all kinds are a constant threat to society and while Scotland is an open and inclusive nation we are not immune from that threat.

 

"While we already have robust and comprehensive laws in place, we need to make sure that legislation is up-to-date and able to counter all forms of hate crime.*

 

"That is why I have commissioned an independent review to be chaired by Lord Bracadale.

 

"This review will help ensure we have the right legislative protection in place to tackle hate crime wherever and whenever it happens. I look forward to Lord Bracadale presenting his findings."

 

The review will look to find "gaps, anomalies and inconsistencies" in the current legislation as well as how the laws can be simplified.

https://stv.tv/news/politics/1379145-offensive-behaviour-at-football-act-to-be-reviewed-by-judge/

 

Looks to me that the SNP are looking for a way out and this is it; the Minister's comment about the Act still being on the statute book was very telling IMO.

 

If it goes; I predict it will be replaced by a new Act that incorporates most of what it stipulates as Offensive Behaviour and Threatening Communications but in a wider ranging context. The whole process will probably take around two years; but the Police may soft pedal on offences if it's clear that the Act is going to be repealed.

Edited January 27, 2017 by BrahimHemdani

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Snobs law introduced to protect the tartan tories sensibilities.

 

 

[stewarty 2,027]

The political equivalent of kicking this into the long grass...

[der Berliner 3,747]

The Offensive Behaviour at Football Act only became "controversial" for the media when those enforcing it were - all of a sudden - targetting Yahoo fans for their bile. After re-defining the word "sectarian" for the West of Scotland (essentially any loyalist, pro-British song et al) they probably thought that this was enough to get us hammered till Kingdom come, only that some naughty enforcers applied it to more than just us ...