Issue 33 August 2006 - Introdcution from the Editor

The Bill to establish a Scottish Human Rights Commission enters Stages 2 and 3 at Holyrood this autumn. There is expected to be lively debate concerning how it can best contribute to the public good, how it will fit with other bodies and how it should be most effectively resourced and made accountable to Holyrood.

In this Issue are two articles which contribute to this debate. Rosemarie McIlwhan gives an account of the progress towards establishing the Scottish operation of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. It is clearly important that this body and the Scottish Human Rights Commission work well together to ensure the effective protection and promotion of equality and human rights in Scotland.

Jamie McRorie provides a critical opinion piece on the recently released report of Lord Falconer on the implementation of the Human Rights Act.

Relevant outcomes of Lord Falconer's Report are the identified need of increased public education and training and development of best practice for a range of public authorities--a role which will clearly be played by a Scottish Human Rights Commission. The Report reached this conclusion, rather then the options of repeal or amendment of the Human Rights Act, following a close analysis of the case law to date. Such scrutiny included those types of cases which had attracted a great deal of public interest and which involved judgments being made by officials as to the potential public safety risk caused by the release of certain individuals from care or custody into the community. Lord Falconer reasoned that such poor judgments were the result not of any inherent problem with the Human Rights Act per se, but rather by the inability of officials to properly use the Human Rights Act to reach decisions which proportionately balance individual rights with the public interest in the particular circumstances of the case. The stated objective now, therefore, is to develop best practice in the implementation of the Act. It is to be hoped that this important finding is taken into account by those who will be deciding over the next few months how to mandate and resource a Scottish Human Rights Commission in order that it can practically assist the many hard-pressed officials working in such fields as e.g. health, education, social work, housing and the criminal justice field.

The issue of best practice was also raised by Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at a recent roundtable hosted by McGrigors in Glasgow. Responding to a question about the potential role of a Scottish Human Rights Commission, she emphasised the importance of national human rights commissions exchanging international experiences of best practice and referred to examples in such areas as poverty and inequality.

The international dimension to the role of the Scottish Human Rights Commission has also been brought home in recent times with regard to the uses, allegedly made, of Scottish airports concerning rendition and the conflict in the Middle East. One dimension, which has been clearly lacking, is that of an independent and authoratitive body able to outline the relevant human rights responsibilities under international human rights law.

Our next Issue will update you on the progress of the Bill...watch this space?