Hansard

When Professor Alan Miller, the outgoing chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, came before the Justice Committee, he explained to us that, in developing the Scottish national action plan for human rights, the SHRC had benefited from international experience and best practice. He advised us that the UN’s Paris principles require national human rights organisations to act as a bridge between their country and the international human rights system.

As Margaret Mitchell said, the first year of the action plan was principally about raising awareness of how human rights should impact on daily experiences in hospitals, care homes, the justice system and the delivery of public services, and about developing an understanding of how a human rights approach should change the way in which services are provided. In the second year, SNAP has reached the point at which service providers can and, we hope, will be held accountable. In getting there, the SHRC has worked with individuals and organisations on the implementation of SNAP. Some 1,000 care providers have received training, which has been independently evaluated and considered to be extremely successful, and that training is being scaled up to be available to all care homes.

The convener of the Justice Committee told us about the housing project in Leith, where residents in poor housing conditions were made aware of their rights to adequate housing and enabled to participate in decisions. Christine Grahame also spoke about the work that uses a human rights approach to place survivors of historical sexual abuse at the centre and provides a framework that can be used to enable them to access justice. That work is relevant in the context of the current inquiry. In another example, Perth and Kinross Council has run a pilot project to promote a human rights culture at a local level, which has involved communities and public services coming together at three participative events.

Following the passage of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill last year, the Scottish Prison Service is working on a research project on the experiences of the victims of trafficking, using a whole-system approach. Police Scotland, too, is committed to improving the human rights training that is provided to officers, and to cultural change within the organisation.

The SHRC has twice been awarded “A” status, which is the top award, and it therefore has the right to speak at the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council and treaty bodies. Professor Miller has spoken to the UN Human Rights Council on matters such as the right to housing and the bedroom tax, and he supported the special rapporteur who was critical of the UK Government on that issue.

However, human rights in Scotland still face challenges, not the least of which is the perception—which is encouraged by some of the right-wing media—that a human rights approach favours the bad guys over the ordinary citizen, whether that is in relation to the treatment of offenders in prisons or the mythology, which is perpetuated by the likes of Theresa May, that illegal immigrants are being allowed to stay in the UK because they have a cat.

There is still work to be done, not just by the SHRC through SNAP but by all of us who support human rights, to develop people’s understanding that human rights are fundamental to us all and are essential to the way we treat each other. Here, I might surprise Alex Neil by saying that I agree with him, because I too believe that the UK Government’s intention to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and replace it with a watered-down British bill of rights represents a significant threat to progress.

As I said, Professor Miller is about to vacate his position as chair of the SHRC, and he will be succeeded by Judith Robertson. I was very pleased to be one of the parliamentarians on the panel that appointed Judith Robertson, from a strong field of candidates. Judith has worked for Oxfam and the see me programme and has done valuable human rights work in that regard. It is clear that she is hugely committed to public engagement with human rights, and I am certain that she will carry on the good work that Professor Miller started, while bringing her extensive experience to the role.

I am sure that everyone in the Parliament wishes Judith Robertson all the best in her challenging but exciting new role. I am sure that we also wish Professor Miller all the best in his retirement from the position.