Chamber and committees

That brings us to the close of this evidence session. Is there is anything that you feel that you have not got across that you would like to say before we wind up? You all seem content, which is great.

We will suspend briefly for a change of the witnesses.

Welcome back. We will now take evidence from our second panel. I welcome to the meeting Professor Katie Boyle, who is the chair of human rights law and social justice at the University of Strathclyde; Nicole Busby, who is a professor of human rights, equality and justice at the University of Glasgow; Professor Aileen McHarg, who is a professor of public law and human rights at Durham University; Alan Miller, who is a professor of practice and human rights law at the University of Strathclyde, and a former co-chair of the national task force for human rights leadership; and Dr Andrew Tickell, who is a senior lecturer in law at Glasgow Caledonian University, and is joining us remotely. Thank you all for joining us.

As with our first panel, we are really pressed for time and we have a lot to get in, so we will move straight to questions. The first question is from me. What has been your involvement in the development of the bill? Can I ask that of Dr Andrew Tickell first, please?

Agenda item 2 is an evidence session on the delayed human rights bill for Scotland. I refer members to papers 1 and 2. We will hear from two panels of witnesses, and I welcome the first panel: Neil Cowan, Scotland programme director, Amnesty International UK; Emma Hutton, chief executive officer, JustRight Scotland; Lucy Miller, policy and communications lead, Human Rights Consortium Scotland; Professor Angela O’Hagan, chair, Scottish Human Rights Commission; and John Wilkes, head of Scotland, Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland. You are all very welcome. Thank you for attending.

Our time is at a bit of a premium this morning and we will head straight into questions. I will start. What has been your involvement in the development of the human rights bill? I will start with Neil Cowan.

Yes, Andrew Tickell has indicated that he would like to come in.

Yes—that was a comprehensive answer.

I thank everyone for their questions and answers but, as time is now tight, I ask you to be as succinct as possible. Of course, answers need to be well-rounded, so I do not want to cut off anything that you really have to say, but I would be grateful if you could keep it succinct, because we still have another three members, possibly, to ask questions and we have only a few minutes left. Marie McNair is next.

Meghan Gallacher has a supplementary question.

Thank you very much. We will now move on to questions, with the first from Maggie Chapman, please.

We will move on to questions from Paul O’Kane.

Yes. We have an extra few minutes. I will not rush you or cut you off.

I will wrap up the questioning. What are your suggestions for a way forward? A wealth of organisations have said that they would like the Scottish Government to commit to introducing the bill in February 2025. Emma Hutton has suggested that the human rights movement leads work on the bill and Katie Boyle has suggested that a working group be custodians of the work to date to ensure continuity after the election. I ask each of you to give your suggestions, starting with Andrew Tickell.