Equality & Disability - JustRight Scotland

Why Scotland Needs Legal Aid Reform

by Annamaria De Felice The Scottish legal aid system needs urgent reform to ensure fair access to justice, especially for those living in poverty, rural areas, and those facing human rights...

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Making Human Rights Justice a Reality Report shines a light on systemic barriers to justice and how to break them

by Maisie Wilson Over the past few months, we have been working with the Human Rights Consortium Scotland (HRCS) on their latest report Make Human Rights Justice a Reality, along with Clan...

JustRight Scotland: Our statement on the Scottish Human Rights Bill Consultation

JustRight Scotland welcomes the Scottish Government’s consultation proposals for a Human Rights Bill published on 15th June as an important step towards realising #AllOurRights in Scotland. By ...

Rights for particular groups: going as far as devolution allows [Blog 2 – part 3]

A blog series By Barbara Bolton, Legal Director and Partner Devolved competence All Scottish Parliament (“SP”) legislation must be within competence, as set by the Scotland Act, which reserves ...

Rights for particular groups: going as far as devolution allows [Blog 2 – part 2]

A blog series By Barbara Bolton, Legal Director and Partner We set out our own analysis below, explaining why in our view the SG and SP could incorporate a number of substantive rights from CRPD,...

Rights for particular groups: going as far as devolution allows [Blog 2 – part 1]

A blog series By Barbara Bolton, Legal Director and Partner In addition to economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, the Taskforce recommended incorporation of: the Convention on the...

Access to Justice and the Right to an Effective Remedy [Blog 1 – part 3]

Going to Court The Consultation does not have a lot to say on judicial remedies, focusing instead on administrative routes to remedy. While it is very important that people have free, highly accessible...

Access to Justice and the Right to an Effective Remedy [Blog 1 – part 2]

What is the right to an effective remedy? The right to an effective remedy for breaches of human rights is a general principle of international human rights law and is expressly set out in most international...

Access to Justice and the Right to an Effective Remedy [Blog 1 – part 1]

Introduction - A Scottish Human Rights Bill By the end of June 2024, the Scottish Government (SG) will introduce a Bill to the Scottish Parliament (SP) that will bring a number of international human ...

Scotland’s Human Rights Bill: an opportunity to strengthen human rights and access to justice in Scotland

Scotland’s Human Rights Bill: an opportunity to strengthen human rights and access to justice in Scotland A blog series by Barbara Bolton, Legal Director and Partner Introduction As the Scottish...

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Access to Higher Education for migrant students is now a real right

JustRight Scotland has been campaigning - together with Maryhill Integration Network and JustCitizens, to extend the right to access education for migrant students in Scotland for over two years....

My first-year anniversary as Legal Caseworker for the Scottish Just Law Centre

My role at JustRight Scotland As of the start of 2023, I have been with JustRight Scotland for a year, working as a Legal Caseworker for the Scottish Just Law Centre (SJLC). And what a year it has...

Gender Recognition Reform Bill in Scotland: We have submitted our legal briefing ahead of parliamentary debate

Ahead of the third stage debate and vote scheduled for next week at the Scottish Parliament on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill 2022 (GRRB), we have submitted a briefing to MSPs today...

JRS and Amnesty Scotland submit written evidence to the EHRCJ Committee on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

17 May 2022 JustRight Scotland and Amnesty Scotland have jointly submitted written evidence to the Equality, Human Rights and Civil Justice (EHRCJ) Committee of the Scottish Parliament on the ...

The Scottish Census 2022 and the “Sex” Question

Gwyn King, Scottish Just Law Centre If you live in Scotland and haven’t already done so, you have until this Sunday (20 March 2022) to complete Scotland’s latest census. One of the questions is:...

Human Rights Act reform: we reject the UK Government proposals

JustRight Scotland has rejected the UK Government plans to replace the Human Rights Act (HRA) as announced last December. We have been working – together with other Scottish civil society and ...

Trans equality charity welcome Court of Session decision on transgender rights

PRESS RELEASE Court upholds Census guidance allowing trans men and women to self-identify their lived sex. Lord Sandison held in the Outer House of the Court of Session today that Scottish Ministers...

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Scottish Trans joins legal challenge to protect trans people’s equal participation in the next Scottish Census

PRESS RELEASE Equality charity says that attempt to overturn well established guidance for trans men and trans women answering the Census is ‘misguided’ and will send a message that ‘they aren’t counted...

Challenging Discrimination: Launch of Free, Confidential, Second-Tier Advice Line

The Scottish legal system is complex and constantly changing. Advisers and frontline workers who are supporting vulnerable people every day may need help too. For them, the Scottish Just Law...

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Scottish human rights organisations unite to reject “unnecessary, regressive and divisive” plans to replace Human Rights Act

Responding to the UK Government’s announcement today that it plans to replace the Human Rights Act, five leading Scottish human rights organisations have released a joint statement calling the proposals...

Using the Law to Challenge Discrimination: Migrant Access to Further Education & Unlawful Disclosure of Gender History by NHS

Gwyn King, Senior Solicitor in our Scottish Just Law Centre, highlights two recent cases where we helped clients to use the law to successfully challenge discrimination: Barriers to Migrant...

Introducing our new social enterprise: JRS Knowhow

We are proud to announce the launch of our brand new social enterprise JRS Knowhow. The start-up social enterprise was created in April 2021, marking almost exactly four years since JustRight Scotland was set...

EU Citizens and Access to Benefits: Time is Running Out for EU Citizens to Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme

Gwyn King, our specialist welfare expert and Senior Associate Solicitor in our Scottish Just Law Centre (SJLC) warns that time is running out for EU citizens and their family members to apply to...

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New Plan for Immigration Consultation: Our Response

On 24 March 2021, the UK Government published its New Plan for Immigration, which sets out various proposals for changes to nationality, immigration and asylum law. JustRight Scotland and our JustCitizens...

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New Plan for Immigration Consultation: A Briefing for Scottish Civil Society Organisations

On 24 March 2021, the UK Government published its New Plan for Immigration, which sets out various proposals for changes to nationality, immigration and asylum law. The consultation invites members of...