Archives
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Cross-border discussion on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill
On 21 January 2023 the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government Shona Robison MSP wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland regarding the Gender Recognition...
1st June 2023
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MBM letter to EHRC Scotland
We were invited by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to participate in an online roundtable to discuss the preliminary findings in Scotland related to the protected characteristics...
25th April 2023
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Gender Recognition, ECHR compliance and the Scottish Human Rights Commission
The Scottish Parliament cannot legislate in contravention of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). At the time the Gender Recognition Act 2004 was passed, it was viewed as...
17th April 2023
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Scottish Parliament Committees: the new administration’s final set of appointments
The last set of new appointments that need to be made as a result of the change of First Minister, and ministerial reshuffle, are from the government backbenches to...
14th April 2023
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MBM statement on the Scottish Government decision to seek judicial review of the Section 35 order blocking the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
Last week, in a widely publicised intervention, the EHRC advised that it would be helpful to amend the Equality Act to make clear that “sex” means “biological sex”. The...
12th April 2023
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Defining “sex” in Scotland: how the recent EHRC letter relates to Scottish legal analysis and politics
On 4 April, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) responded to a request for advice from the UK Government’s Minister for Women and Equalities, Kemi Badenoch MP, on...
10th April 2023
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Hard to reach or hard to hear? The price of finding women who count
In 2016, the Scottish Government committed to establish a First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG), ‘to help drive forward action to tackle gender inequality’. The...
4th April 2023
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Police Scotland: Leaving the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index
On 20 February 2023 the Daily Mail reported that Police Scotland had withdrawn from the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index (WEI) scheme. The scheme is described by Stonewall as ‘the...
23rd March 2023
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MBM note to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. 6 March 2023
This note provides a further update on our petition. We comment on recent responses to the Committee, submitted by Police Scotland, the Scottish Government, the Crown Office and Prosecution Service...
6th March 2023
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The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: where now?
A report yesterday attributed this position to the Leader of Scottish Labour, on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Mr Sarwar earlier suggested to journalists that the Section 35...
19th February 2023