The key legislation in Scotland regarding sectarianism and religious prejudice is the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, which makes religious hatred in any form an aggravating factor to a crime. A similar provision exists for the rest of the UK under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2002.
The Human Rights Act 1998 also ensures that the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief is protected. Further protection of this right is provided by Children (Scotland) Act 1995.
The Equality Act makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of religion or belief when goods, facilities and services are being provided and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of religion or belief in employment and vocational training.
All UK laws can be found at the Office of Public Sector Information.
The National Framework for Inclusion provides a web page that links directly to legislation relevant to equality and inclusion.
Information about discrimination from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Find us on