About the Bill
Historically, the law in Scotland criminalised consensual sexual activity between men. These laws were repealed or amended in Scotland between 1981 and 2013.
This Bill aims to correct the remaining “discriminatory effect” of these laws on men who had been convicted under these now repealed laws. This will be done by granting all men convicted of such offences in Scotland (living and posthumously if deceased) an automatic pardon.
The Bill also allows for these criminal convictions to be disregarded (removed from a criminal record) if the convicted person applies to the Scottish Government.
You can read more about the Bill on the legislation webpages.
Call for views
The Committee's call for views closed on 19 January 2018.
Click here to read a copy of the full call for views.
Stage 1 Report: The Committee published its Stage 1 report of the Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Bill on 26 March 2018. Read the report (2.1MB pdf).
Scottish Government response: The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's Stage 1 report on 13 April 2018. Read the response (364 KB PDF)
Evidence
The following written submissions were received in response to the Committee's call for views-
Read the official report for the Committee meeting below-
The Committee also undertook a private evidence session with witnesses on 22 February 2018-
Correspondence