Reports relating to hate crime
Section 14 – Publication of reports on hate crime convictions
84.Section 14 places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to publish reports, on an annual basis, on convictions for offences aggravated by prejudice within the meaning of section 1 of the Act, and offences under the Act. The reports must include information about offences under section 3 or 4(1) (which relate to the characteristic of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origins), about the characteristics to which offences under section 4(2) relate and about the type of prejudice by which offences aggravated by prejudice within the meaning of section 1 were aggravated.
85.Subsection (3) requires that the Scottish Ministers must take reasonable steps to establish whether supplementary information can be provided about any subgroups to which the offences relates, as set out in paragraph (a). If they establish that any such supplementary information can be provided, they must take reasonable steps to obtain it and include it in the report.
86.Subsection (4) provides that these reports must not include information which is capable of identifying an individual in relation to any of the reported matters.
87.Subsection (5) provides that the report may be in any form that the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate, and in particular may be part of another document. This would allow for reports under section 14 and section 15 to be combined.
Section 15 – Publication of reports by police on recorded hate crime
88.Section 15 places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to publish reports on police recorded hate crime on an annual basis. The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland must provide the information that the Scottish Ministers require to be able to comply with this duty.
89.Subsection (2) states that the report should be based on records made by the Police Service of all offences aggravated by prejudice (within the meaning of section 1 of the Act) and all offences under the Act. This ensures that the report will cover all hate crimes which are reported to and recorded by the Police Service, not only those which ultimately result in prosecution.
90.Subsection (3) requires that, where this detail has been recorded, the report includes the age, sex, and ethnic or national origins of both the person recorded as being the victim and the person recorded as being the perpetrator. It does not place a duty on the Police Service to collect this information, but requires the Scottish Ministers to include this information in the report where it has been recorded.
91.Subsection (4) provides that the report must include (to the extent that these details have been recorded):
the particular characteristic (from the list in section 1(2) or 4(3) of the Act) which is recorded as being targeted;
where the characteristic is age, the particular age or age range recorded as being targeted;
where the characteristic is disability, the particular type of disability recorded as being targeted, including whether it is a physical or mental impairment;
where the characteristic is race (or related characteristics), the particular race (or related characteristic) recorded as being targeted;
where the characteristic is religion or, in the case of a social or cultural group, perceived religious affiliation, the particular religion (including lack of religious belief) or religious affiliation recorded as being targeted;
where the characteristic is sexual orientation, the particular sexual orientation recorded as being targeted; and
where the characteristic is transgender identity, the particular transgender identity recorded as being targeted.
92.Subsection (5) provides that these reports must not include information which is capable of identifying an individual in relation to any of the reported matters.
93.Subsection (6) provides that the report may be in any form that the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate, and in particular may be part of another document. This would enable these reports to be combined with, for example, reports under section 14.
94.Subsection (7) defines “Police Service” and “reporting year” for the purposes of section 15.
