Scottish Human Rights Law Group

The Scottish Government has proposed the introduction of a one-year timebar for all Scottish human rights claims, following the House of Lords’ judgement in Somerville & Ors v Scottish Ministers (2007 SC 140) that no statutory time limit currently exists for such actions against the Scottish Ministers.

The Law Society of Scotland agrees with the Scottish Government that a time limit should be introduced for compensation claims under Human Rights Law in Scotland, to bring the position in line with that of claims against the UK Government.

Michael Clancy, Director of Law Reform, said: “The Society agrees with the general proposal that there should be consistency between the time bar period for claims for compensation under the Scotland Act and the Human Rights Act. The current position of claims against Scottish Ministers is anomalous to other public authorities in Scotland as well as the UK Government.

“The Society recognises that the Scottish Government in the vast majority of cases allows 12 weeks for consultation on significant changes to the law. It is unfortunate that the Scottish Government did not take the opportunity to consult widely and follow the usual process for changes to the law as the effect of the proposals will be to limit the capacity of individuals who may have had their human rights infringed by Scottish Ministers to make a claim for compensation.” [source: http://www.lawscot.org.uk]

For a more critical opinion, see Aidan O’Neill QC’s article for the Journal, ‘Playing politics with the constitution’.