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The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 consolidates all of the relevant hate crime laws into one place, and updates and extends some of these laws. The Act is not retrospective and offending that predates 1 April 2024 should still be reported under previous legislation.
The Act outlines 7 protected characteristics that can be attached to any substantive common law or statutory offence. There is also a separate offence of racially aggravated harassment.
The Act also creates new offences of stirring up hatred: Section 4(1) of the Act relates to the offence of stirring up racial hatred and Section 4(2) of the Act relates to the offence of stirring up hatred relating to the other 6 protected characteristics, namely, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, and variations in sex characteristics.