Ruling in the judicial review of the Scottish Government policy on the management of transgender people in custody

The Scottish Human Rights Commission notes today’s ruling in the judicial review of the Scottish Government’s policy on the management of transgender people in custody. We will take time to examine the judgment in full.

As Scotland’s independent National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), our purpose in intervening was to support the court by providing independent, expert analysis of all of the human rights relevant to this case to inform the deliberations. Our full written submission is available on the SHRC website.

We welcome the references in Lady Ross’s written opinion to the SHRC intervention and to the prominence of human rights in the consideration of the issues before the court.

Our job is to promote and protect human rights for everyone in Scotland, and to support public authorities to meet their human rights obligations.

Separately, and in advance of the ruling, the SHRC has been in touch with the Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service, to remind them of the requirement for a comprehensive human rights based assessment in the future approach to the design, implementation and monitoring of all policies, but particularly in contexts such as these where the rights of multiple and particularly at-risk groups are engaged.