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Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee 11 March 2015

11 Mar 2015 · S4 · Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee

Item of business

Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

McLeod, Aileen SNP South Scotland Watch on SPTV

As we have heard, amendment 46 requires ministers to have regard to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights when making decisions under parts 2, 3 or 3A of the 2003 act. As Mr Russell has explained, the covenant is an international human rights treaty that sets out certain rights that state parties agree to recognise, and aspirations to work towards. As is highlighted in the Scottish Government’s contribution to the UK’s periodic report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Political Rights, a copy of which I provided to the committee as an appendix to my letter of yesterday, we are committed to giving effect to international human rights treaties in a way that works for Scotland, and that document sets out the steps that the Scottish Government has already taken to give effect to the treaty. In response to the question that Mr Fergusson asked, I note that neither the ECHR nor the covenant is subservient. They are taken into account together. The rights in the covenant are high-level and aspirational rights that are suitable for implementation by Governments as part of, for example, a legislative programme. The introduction of the bill could be considered evidence of Scotland’s commitment to take into consideration the rights that are recognised by the covenant. Amendment 46 would place the responsibility for testing and directing Scotland’s approach to the covenant at the door of the courts, even though the covenant’s wording does not easily translate into clear, enforceable rights. The terms of the covenant have not been drafted in a way that lends itself to interpretation by the courts. However, it is absolutely certain that acts of the Scottish Parliament and decisions of ministers are not law if they are incompatible with the rights that are set out in the European convention on human rights, and the amendment would not affect that. Ministers must in any event have regard to the covenant and other international treaties in order to comply with their obligations under the ministerial code. I appreciate that Mr Russell is keen to ensure that ministerial decisions about the right to buy are taken subject to appropriate safeguards to ensure that they are fair and in the public interest. I consider that the 2003 act and the bill already provide for that. However, in the interest of stating the Government’s support for the covenant within those rights to buy, I support amendment 46. If the committee agrees to the amendment, I will need to consider whether any amendments are needed at stage 3 to ensure that the amendment is effective.

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Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee 11 March 2015

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