Oct 102024
 

Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Calls for legal pardons for witches have recently gathered pace in Scotland. In March 2022 Scotland’s First Minister at the time, Nicola Sturgeon, issued a formal apology to those executed under the Witchcraft Act. The act, which was in effect from 1563 to 1736, made the crime of witchcraft punishable by death. “Today on International Women’s Day, as first minister on behalf of the Scottish government, I am choosing to acknowledge that egregious historic injustice and extend a formal posthumous apology to all of those accused, convicted, vilified or executed under the Witchcraft Act of 1563.” Sturgeon said.

Aerial view of lush green parliament grounds with Calton Hill in the background and cloudy skies above.
Scottish Parliament buildings, where the pardons took place in 2022
©Reinhold Möller, Wikimedia Commons

The Witches of Scotland group has been petitioning the Scottish Parliament to pardon those convicted under the act, with Claire Mitchell KC saying it would correct as far as possible a “terrible miscarriage of justice”. A bill proposed in the Scottish Parliament is trying to set the record straight. It could allow for posthumous pardons to thousands of women and men who faced convictions hundreds of years ago.

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