Chamber and committees

Petitioner submission of 20 September 2021

PE1855/C - Pardon and memorialise those convicted under the Witchcraft Act 1563

We are grateful to the Committee for asking for further comment in light of the Scottish Government Response. The petition seeks 3 things, a pardon, an apology and a national memorial: we will address each in turn.

When the Witchcraft Act 1563-1736 was abolished and replaced by a new act, the crime was that of “pretended witchcraft”; even by 1736 it was realised that there was no such crime of witchcraft and broadly accepted that people should not have been accused and executed for it. It should not matter that centuries have passed – the law ought not to have convicted people then, and that should be recognised now.

There is no time-limit on justice.

PARDON

For the avoidance of any doubt, we are not looking for a pardon in individual cases by the Queen. The prosecutions were carried out by the Scottish state. We do not consider that the prerogative of mercy is appropriate. It is also not competent for an application to be made to the SCCRC to pardon individual people, as there is no-one that could be considered to have a “legitimate interest” in terms of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (see SCCRC v Swire and Mosey).

We seek to persuade the Committee to refer the case – perhaps via the Justice Committee - to ask Parliament to legislate to provide a pardon for all those convicted. We make reference to the Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Act 2018 as precedent for this request. This was both a collective and posthumous pardon.

We also make reference to the consultation in respect of the pardoning of people convicted of offences in respect of the miner strikes. The findings of the consultation analysis were that “a large majority of respondents were in favour of the proposals to pardon all miners who had been convicted of offences relating to the 1984/85 miners’ strike and wanted the criteria for a pardon to be as inclusive as possible.” We understand that the legislation proposed is to pardon on both a collective and posthumous basis.

We draw the Committee’s attention to the acknowledgement of the Scottish Government that “There are clearly similarities between the injustices of those convicted in a discriminatory manner for same sex sexual activity and the injustices of women classed as witches many centuries ago which could justify legislative steps being taken in this area”.

Accordingly we seek a collective and posthumous pardon by way of legislation - a suggestion to which the Scottish Government has already acknowledged may be justified.

APOLOGY

The Scottish Government has set out the work it is doing in advancing women’s rights and equality and all these are very welcome steps. In looking to the future, Scotland should also address its past: it should come to terms with this terrible injustice done to people, mostly women, and it should recognise that it was wrong and do what it can to put it right. Whilst a pardon and apology would be symbolic it would not be any the less important or powerful for being so. Rather, it would show Scotland’s commitment to an equal future for women and vulnerable groups.

We would ask that the committee consider asking the Scottish Government to provide a public apology to those convicted of witchcraft, making it clear that those convictions ought not to have happened and that these people were not witches. It would seem from the Scottish Govt response that this is accepted. Such an apology would cover those convicted and those many who died in torture or were eventually acquitted, but only at terrible cost mentally and physically.

NATIONAL MONUMENT

In failing to address its witch trial history, Scotland is out of step with several countries who have addressed the issue of those convicted of witchcraft. Countries such as Germany have issued pardons and have memorials. Norway (having 91 people convicted of witchcraft) have a stunning memorial. In the USA almost all those convicted of witchcraft have been pardoned – there is currently one person yet to be pardoned and it is understood that a bill is currently before the Massachusetts State legislature. Countries such as Denmark have museums of witch-hunts where people can learn about the scapegoating of people in society through the lens of their witch-trials. Even small countries which had thankfully few witch trials such as Iceland have museums which tell the story of those accused.

It is submitted that consideration ought to be given to a national memorial to all those convicted of witchcraft: to acknowledge the terrible injustice done and to allow reflection on the circumstances which led to a vulnerable group being scapegoated. It is submitted that the Scottish Government ought to be asked to consider a national memorial for this purpose.