Hansard

PE2135, on implementing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—the ICCPR—in Scottish legislation, was lodged by Henry Black Ferguson on behalf of wecollect.scot. As we consider the petition, it would be appropriate to acknowledge the recent passing of the petitioner. The committee will be aware that Mr Ferguson was dedicated to this particular cause and understands that his campaigning work will continue through his colleagues and friends at Respect Scottish Sovereignty. We are grateful to Mr Ferguson for the time that he took in pursuing with the Scottish Parliament this petition on a matter that was of great importance to him and on which, in fact, he wrote to the committee not that long ago.

The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that, prior to the next Holyrood parliamentary election, the ICCPR is given full legal effect in the devolved lawmaking process.

We last considered the petition on 2 April, when we agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture. Members will recall that the national task force on human rights leadership considered whether existing treaties should be incorporated into Scots law through the Scottish Government’s new human rights bill, and it did not recommend that the ICCPR be incorporated.

In his response to the committee, the cabinet secretary reiterates that the Scottish Parliament can give effect only to the provisions of international treaties that fall within its powers and responsibilities. That means that the incorporation of the ICCPR would not extend the Parliament’s powers, nor would it allow the Parliament or the Scottish Government to do anything that would have previously been beyond devolved competence. The cabinet secretary also notes that the majority of the rights in the covenant have already been given domestic legal effect through the Human Rights Act 1998.

The petitioner provided two written submissions, the first of which sets out information that he felt should have been included in the introductory remarks when we last considered the petition. The second written submission states the petitioner’s view that, because there was no notion of devolved competence prior to the Scotland Act 1998, any argument that implementation of the covenant might be beyond devolved competence is meaningless. It states that, as the UK ratified the covenant in 1976 and devolved its implementation through the Scotland Act 1998, the next step is implementation by a majority of MSPs.

Notwithstanding the argument that is made in the petition, the evidence that we have received from the cabinet secretary and the Scottish Government, as well as the information that is set out in the Scottish Parliament information centre briefing, is clear on the issue. Although the Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate to implement international agreements such as the covenant, that does not extend the powers of the Parliament to allow it to take action that is beyond devolved competence.

The committee has also received a written submission from an individual, Ewan Kennedy, which expresses his view that the covenant is a long-established cornerstone of the principles that are necessary to support modern democracies.

In the light of the firm direction from the Scottish Government, which is supported by the Parliament’s independent research body, do colleagues have any suggestions as to how we might proceed?