MSPs back human rights commission proposal
4 May 06
"Yes" stage 1 vote for first ministerial bill not to win committee backing
Scotland will have a Human Rights Commission, but the bill to create one will be substantially amended.
MSPs accepted the Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights Bill on a stage one vote yesterday, after Deputy Education Minister Robert Brown undertook to bring forward amendments to create a Commission rather than a single Commissioner.
The bill was the first ever proposal from ministers not to be backed by a parliamentary committee.
The new Commission's £1 million annual budget will also now be set by the parliamentary corporate body.
Labour MSP Pauline McNeill, who chairs the Justice 1 Committee, said it was fundamental that MSPs did not think that only a human rights commission or commissioner could protect people from human rights abuses.