Lecturer is appointed to advise the Scottish Government on human rights
- Wednesday, January 17, 2018
A Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Roehampton has been appointed as a member on a new expert panel, advising on the future of human rights in Scotland.
Dr Katie Boyle’s research advances potential models for the protection of economic and social rights and has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and national human rights commissions and consortiums.
The Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon has established the group known as the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership. The purpose of the group will be to make recommendations on how Scotland can continue to lead by example in human rights, including economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
Dr Boyle said: “I welcome the opportunity that the First Minister has provided to look at the different ways in which human rights can be protected in Scotland. The way human rights are protected is changing – particularly in relation to the serious implications posed by constitutional change such as Brexit. By starting this conversation, the Scottish Government has provided an opportunity to focus on best practice, which can help lead the way both domestically and internationally. This is a very promising step for the future of human rights across Scotland and the rest of the UK.”
The remit of the advisory group will look at how to ensure that existing rights are retained as well as how to progressively improve rights protections through, for example, enhanced rights protection in legislation, parliamentary scrutiny of human rights protections or through a Bill of Rights process for Scotland.
The Department of Social Sciences is rated one of the best in the UK for the impact of our social sciences research (REF 2014). Based within the department the School of Law delivers law programmes that nurture undergraduates with the legal practice skills which employers value through its ‘law in practice’ ethos and practitioner involvement. Its newly validated LLM in Human Rights and Legal Practice, launching in September 2018, continues the emphasis on law in practice; the LLM students will be encouraged to develop valuable critical thinking skills, useful as a lawyer or as transferable skills for many other professions in the modern workforce.