A new hate-crime law in Scotland causes widespread concern

April 1st might seem an inauspicious day to bring in controversial legislation. But that is the day the Scottish government has chosen finally to bring into effect its Hate Crime and Public Order Act. The law was passed three years ago, but its implementation was delayed by worries about how the police would deal with its expected effects. Critics of the law say the government is still taking the Scottish people for fools.

Scotland already has an offence of “stirring up racial hatred”. From April it will become a crime to use “threatening or abusive” behaviour with the intention of stirring up hatred on the basis of other characteristics, too—namely religion, age, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. It will also become possible to prosecute people for things they say in the privacy of their own home. Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has insisted that the threshold for what constitutes stirring up hatred is “incredibly high”. Plenty of critics disagree.