Since the Church of Scotland Act 1921, the Church of Scotland has been independent from the state. Despite this, the monarch of the United Kingdom does take an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland at the meeting of the Privy Council immediately following their accession.[1] The monarch also has the right to attend the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, but usually sends a High Commissioner in their place.[1]
As of the 2011 census, Christianity was the largest religion in Scotland, chosen by 53.8% of the Scottish population identifying when asked: "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?" This represented a decline from the 2001 figure of 65.1%. More recent polls of public opinion have shown that the majority today consider themselves non-religious. In 2017, the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, conducted by ScotCen Social Research found that 58% of Scots identified themselves as non-religious, compared to 40% in 1999.[2] [3]
On 28 October 2021, the Scottish Parliament formed the Cross-Party Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief. At the time of forming, the group was represented by MSPs John Mason, Murdo Fraser, Jeremy Balfour, Stephen Kerr and Katy Clark. A number of non–political figures and organisations from across Scotland also collaborate with the group.[4] The groups purpose is to meet in order to discuss and consider how best to promote the freedom of religion or belief for any and all individuals and organisations across Scotland.[5]
Article 9 of the Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment states that
The Scottish Government "value Scotland's diverse faith and belief communities and the important role they play in making Scotland a safer, stronger and more inclusive society". In order to promote this, the Scottish Government work in partnership with Interfaith Scotland to "promote interfaith dialogue and support faith and belief communities", Scotland's national Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration and Srebrenica Memorial Day to "ensure lessons are learnt about what can happen if hatred remains unchecked", undertake work in order to minimise instances of hate crime to "make sure no individual or community experiences discrimination due to their faith or belief", as well as the Scottish Governing funding a "variety of faith and belief organisations" in order to "tackle religious intolerance and promote equality and community cohesion".
See main article: Equality Act 2010.
The following bills have been passed by the Scottish Parliament which have some, either wholly or in part, a relation to the freedom of religion and belief in Scotland: