The Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by Meghan Gallacher MSP on 14 May 2025 as a Member’s Bill seeking to create a criminal offence of destroying, damaging or desecrating a war memorial.
Scottish Parliament writes:
The Desecration of War Memorials (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) provides for a specific criminal offence where a person, without reasonable excuse, wilfully or recklessly destroys, damages or desecrates a war memorial.
Existing criminal offences which may be used to prosecute such cases include the statutory offence of vandalism (set out in section 52 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995) and the common law offence of malicious mischief. These offences are not restricted to particular types of property. The Bill’s Policy Memorandum argues that use of existing criminal offences, which are also used where other types of property are vandalised, fails to take into account the heightened impact of a war memorial being damaged or desecrated.
