The UN’s Human Rights Committee wants to hear from NGOs (non-governmental organisations) about the state of civil and political rights in the UK including Scotland. The Committee is assessing UK, including Scotland’s, compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In particular the Committee invites evidenced proposals from NGOs about what should be put in the ‘list of issues prior to reporting’ (LOIPR) ie what questions should be asked of the UK government before it submits its report to the UN. The questions can relate to devolved or reserved matters.
The LOIPR of UK is scheduled for adoption during the Committee’s next 2020 session – on 8th March. There is more information available from the UN at https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1371&Lang=en. The deadline for the NGO written contributions is 13 January 2020.
Once the UK LOIPR is adopted, the UK will be given a year to reply and will be treated as the UK’s 8th periodic report. The report will be examined by the Committee in 2022 along with other submissions on the UK eg from NGOs and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs).