Dr Kasey McCall-Smith authors briefs for Human Rights Consortium Scotland (HRCS)
Tue 30 November 2021
On 24 November, the Human Rights Consortium Scotland (HRCS) launched a new phase in its programme of work designed to support civil society in the next steps toward developing Scotland's new human rights framework. As part of the event, the HRCS published a briefing series addressing various human rights conventions and specific rights identified for incorporation into Scots law. Five of the briefs were authored by Dr Kasey McCall-Smith as part of her ongoing work on human rights incorporation. The briefs cover the following topics:
- Incorporation of International Human Rights Briefing Series: The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
- Incorporation of International Human Rights Briefing Series: The Right to an Adequate Standard of Living
- Incorporation of International Human Rights Briefing Series: The Right to Health
- Incorporation of International Human Rights Briefing Series: The Right to Take Part in Cultural Life
- Incorporation of International Human Rights Briefing Series: The Right to Social Security
Additional briefs for this HRCS series were written by Professor Nicole Busby, with whom Dr McCall-Smith co-authored a paper on the Incorporation of the CERD and CRPD and Equivalent Rights Provision for LGBTI Communities and Older Persons for the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership earlier this year.
In March 2021, the Scottish Government committed to developing a new, comprehensive human rights framework, which includes incorporation of the following treaties into Scots law: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination. Since incorporation of human rights became a feature of the national government's programme for government in 2018, many of the work-based placements and human rights clinic projects offered as part of the LLM in Human Rights have generated student-led research projects focusing on incorporation. The HRCS is a long-time partner of the LLM programme. As part of Dr McCall-Smith's ongoing engagement work with civil society, government and the public, the original project website for Incorporating Human Rights in Scotland will continue to be updated to offer links to the extensive resources available on human rights incorporation.