MSPs enthuse over human rights evidence on land reform

 

A panel of witnesses, including a representative of the Faculty, has been thanked by MSPs for “saturating” them with information on human rights aspects of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Mungo Bovey, QC, and his four fellow witnesses faced almost three hours of questioning by the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.

The MSPs had been keen to examine the Bill in relation to its implications for rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, and the panel of Mr Bovey, Eleanor Deeming of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, Kirsteen Shields of Dundee University, Megan MacInnes of Global Witness, and Charles Livingstone of Brodies, provided a wealth of detail.

Concluding the evidence session, Rob Gibson, Committee Convener, thanked the panel and said: “I think we have reached a point where we are saturated with information, but it has been highly interesting because it has provided us with a much better focus on this. It has been an excellent panel and you have all contributed to our knowledge of this and indeed, hopefully, to the improvement of the Bill in due course.”

The session can be viewed at http://www.scottishparliament.tv/category.aspx?sort=date&vid=0_yn3socpg

The Faculty’s written evidence is at http://www.advocates.org.uk/media/1882/final-response-land-reform-act-evidence-to-the-scottish-parliament-7-october-2015.pdf