Fall in human rights challenges
8 Nov 04
Dramatic drop in human rights issues raised in Scots criminal trials
The number of people taking human rights issues in criminal cases has fallen dramatically, according to a study carried out for the Scottish Executive.
It was feared that the justice system would face a deluge of cases following the introduction of the European Convention on Human Rights as part of the devolution settlement in 1999.
However the study showed that just 190 challenges in criminal cases were made under the legislation in 2003, down from 1,011 between May 1999 and December 2000.
The report fails to offer a reason for the decline, although the Scottish Human Rights Centre suggests that lack of awareness of rights and poor access to legal aid may be to blame.