Parliament Workbench

Petition · PE01665 · Session 5

Common law of blasphemy

Closed Submitted 4 Jun 2017 People & Communities
Signatures
0
104 online signatures with a country
Comments
13
Considered
3 meetings
in the Official Report

What it asks

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to abolish the common law crimes of blasphemy, heresy and profanity to the extent that they remain law.

What the petitioner did first

I have written directly to the Scottish Government asking them to abolish blasphemy and heresy by a simple clause in a bill. The Scottish Government responded that, as no one has been charged with the crime for over a century, it is irrelevant and there are no plans to abolish it.

Where it was considered

Official Report
  1. 21 Sep 2017
    Public Petitions Committee
    New Petitions
    1 mention
  2. 22 Mar 2018
    Public Petitions Committee
    Continued Petitions
    1 mention
  3. 13 Sep 2018
    Public Petitions Committee
    Continued Petitions
    1 mention

Signatures by country

104 online signatures
  1. Scotland71 68.3%
  2. United Kingdom28 26.9%
  3. Czech Republic2 1.9%
  4. England2 1.9%
  5. France1 1%

Comments

13 comments, oldest first
  1. David 16 Jun 2017
    Blasphemy law has no place in modern liberal united society.
  2. Paul Braterman 24 Jun 2017
    It is an insult to whatever gods there may be to suggest that they need legal protection from being insulted
  3. Jamie Stephenson 3 Jul 2017
    Having this law still on the books is an embarrassment to Scotland
  4. Megan Crawford 3 Jul 2017
    This law serves no benefit in today's society.
  5. John Trainor 4 Jul 2017
    Shameful that Scotland has not done something about this stain on the legislature!
  6. Rosemary Dolan 5 Jul 2017
    Pakistan has justified its treatment og atheist blogger on the basis of blasphemy laws in western countries.
  7. Alistair Donald Charles Harley 7 Jul 2017
    Blasphemy laws, even if rarely used retain the potential. They are reactionary and regressive and an affront to freedom of speech and conscience and thereby to democracy itself. Scotland, the home of the Enlightenment, should set the lead in enlightened and progressive legislation and end the capacity to prosecute for blasphemy.
  8. Tim Puntis 11 Jul 2017
    Very important that these harmful laws removed.
  9. Iain Campbell 11 Jul 2017
    Only theocracies require blasphemy laws.
  10. Ian Angles 11 Jul 2017
    Which god were you meaning?
  11. Cp 12 Jul 2017
    Come on Scotland. You take the rights, privileges and monies from the EU, so about time you respected human rights, and that include the freedom of speech. Scrap the blasphemy laws and get Scotland into the human rights revaluation
  12. William Henderson 19 Jul 2017
    An affront to freedom of expression. Let's be rid of this pre-medieval oppresive legislation.
  13. William L E Henderson 19 Jul 2017
    Remove this symbol of pre-medieval oppression
    - an affront to the right of free expression.