Alex Salmond has been accused by church and legal figures of rushing
1Z0-272 exams through legislation to combat religious bigotry, including new offences such as using social media to spread sectarian hatred.
The Scottish government has unveiled a bill that introduces a five-year maximum jail sentence and unlimited fines for football fans who sing bigoted songs on the terraces, or for anyone who uses the internet to incite religious hatred or sends threats such as live bullets by post.
Salmond, the first minister, is determined to circumvent Holyrood’s lengthy scrutiny of legislation to turn the offensive behaviour at football and threatening communications (Scotland) bill into law for the beginning of the football season in late July.
However, the Law Society of Scotland and the Church of Scotland, the largest protestant church in Scotland, warned that the powers were being unnecessarily rushed and risked being so badly framed they could be open to legal challenge.
The MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament) responsible for tackling sectarianism in the country has been warned by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland about the dangers of pushing through an 1Z0-273 exams over-hasty bill to deal with the problem.
The Rt Rev David Arnott, current senior representative of the Presbyterian denomination, has met with Roseanna Cunningham, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, to discuss the Scottish Government’s ‘Offensive Behaviour in Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill’ ahead of its publication.
Mr Arnott declared: “We appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Minister on this very important issue but we remain nervous about this haste in which this bill being rushed through Parliament, apparently in time for the start of the football season. Whilst we are not against the ideas in this bill, we remain unconvinced of the wisdom of this approach“.
The speed at which it is being rushed through means it appears to lack scrutiny and clarity, says the senior churchman.
The government is rightly asking for support from across civic Scotland, it believes, but is not giving civic Scotland much time to make sure they are happy with the content.
The Church of Scotland says it recognises that football terraces are where much of what is seen as sectarianism occurs but it is not only there that the abuse, be it verbal or physical harm, is experienced.
Sectarianism is a deeply cultural issue and will not be solved solely by words or legislation but both can help, the Kirk Moderator suggests.
Mr Arnott explained: “We remain of the view that real change comes when human relationships are healed and that takes time, effort, resources and a commitment to working in local communities and with a wide range of local organisations. We look to the ecumenical work of Larkhall Churches, the Bridging the Gap project in the Gorbals or the Iona Community’s ‘can you hear the bigots sing?’ project as examples of local initiatives that work because they change lives.”
Cameron Ritchie, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said the urgency breached an agreement supported by all parties in 2004 that new legislation had to be properly scrutinised.
“If this legislation is passed it should be subject to early post-legislative review to ensure that it is working effectively,” he said.