Hansard

As a member of the cross-party selection panel that was established by the Presiding Officer under our standing orders, I am delighted to speak to the motion in my name, which invites members to agree to nominate Ian Duddy to Her Majesty the Queen for appointment as the chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission. I chaired the selection panel, whose other members were Karen Adam, Maggie Chapman, Pam Duncan-Glancy and Meghan Gallacher.

As members will be aware, the Scottish Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution for Scotland. Its role is to promote human rights and, in particular, to encourage best practice in relation to human rights.

The panel’s nominee, Ian Duddy, is a senior civil servant and former United Kingdom ambassador. From 2011 to 2016, he led the UK team at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, working closely with civil society, Governments and national human rights institutions. He has worked in Europe, South America and Afghanistan on issues including child safeguarding, gender, education and freedom of expression. He is currently the head of the human rights and rule of law department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The panel believes that Ian’s blend of skills, knowledge and experience will make him an excellent chair and will ensure that the commission fulfils its statutory functions, in partnership with the part-time members of the commission, that positive working relations with stakeholders are built and maintained and that the office is run efficiently and effectively.

I thank the outgoing chair of the commission, Judith Robertson, who demits office later this month, for her many achievements during her term in office. I wish her all the very best for the future.

I move,

That the Parliament nominates Ian Duddy to Her Majesty The Queen for appointment as the Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission.