Thousands sign petition against football behaviour law

Football supporters’ group Fans Against Criminalisation is lobbying the Scottish government to scrap the law, which it claims is “fundamentally illiberal and unnecessarily restricts freedom of expression”.

The legislation was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2011 but failed to win the support of any opposition MSPs.

At the time, Holyrood’s four opposition parties and independent MSP Margo MacDonald released a joint statement which said it was “of real regret that the first piece of legislation passed by this new parliament has been railroaded through by the SNP”.

The FAC said: “Whatever your views regarding the chants and songs of football fans, the use of the law in this way is wrong and has created a poisonous atmosphere between supporters and police. That is in no-one’s interest.”

The organisation claimed the legislation was “unjust, unworkable and dangerous”.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) had highlighted the legislation’s “potential lack of legal certainty” as it moved through the Scottish Parliament.

A challenge to the legislation on human rights grounds failed recently when Lord Caloway, the Lord Justice Clerk, rejected an appeal by two fans who were convicted of singing Roll of Honour at a Hibs-Celtic match in 2013.

The fans challenged the law under article 7 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), citing the right to know, with sufficient clarity, of the nature of their crime.

Figures show that almost half of people taken to court in 2013/14 in relation to the legislation were acquitted.

There was action taken against 161 people with not guilty outcomes in 74 cases (48 per cent).

Researchers at the University of Stirling are set to publish a study into the operation of the law in August.

The study, which minister for community safety Roseanne Cunningham said would be a “proper, comprehensive, quality-assured, evidence-based evaluation”, will inform a government review of the law.