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Legal work in Scotland

The legal team

The legal team in Scotland work to meet our mandate to protect individuals from discrimination and to enforce equality and human rights laws.

We do this through funding strategic equality cases, (and those human rights cases with a discrimination component), by using our enforcement powers and by raising awareness of the law through training events, writing articles and through our Equality Law Bulletin.

Contact us about a case

The Commission in Scotland is interested in hearing from solicitors and advocates who are bringing cases that are of interest to the Commission or in which we might intervene. We look for policies or practices which lead to widespread or serious breaches of equality laws or the Human Rights Act. Find out more about how to contact us about a case.

Support for advisers

The Commission in Scotland can offer second tier advice to advisers who are dealing with equality or human rights issues. Find out more about our support for advisers.

Attend our training

We deliver a programme of equality law training to advisors and practitioners across Scotland. Keep up tp date with our planned training sessions by subscribing to our bulletin or contact us if you would like to ask us to come to speak at your own training event or conference.

equality: online webcasts

The Scottish legal team is pleased to present our series of four webcasts, equality: online.  These webcasts are aimed at providing flexible training to practitioners who work with legal issues in their day-to-day work. In the latest episode Jayne Hardwick, Senior Lawyer from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Alice Stobart, Advocate from Westwater Advocates, provide an introduction to EU equality legislation, discuss key case law and set out the principles courts follow when applying this legislation 

Codes of practice and technical guidance

We have produced Codes of Practice on Employment, Services and Equal Pay. The Codes set out clearly and precisely what the legislation means. They draw on precedent and case law and explain the implications of every clause in technical terms. These statutory codes are the authoritative source of advice for anyone who wants a rigorous analysis of the legislation's detail. For lawyers, advocates and human resources experts in particular, they will be invaluable. As with the Act, the Codes apply to England, Scotland and Wales.

See the Codes of Practice.

We have also produced Technical Guidance on Schools, Further and Higher Education and the Public Sector Equality Duty. Technical Guidance is a non-statutory version of a cod, however it will still provide a formal, authoritative and comprehensive legal interpretation of the PSED and education sections of the Act.

See the Technical Guidance.

Panel of Counsel

Members of the Commission’s panel of counsel are our preferred providers of external legal services, including representation and advice.  These services support our advisory, influencing, regulatory and enforcement work across the equality and human rights spheres, including strategic litigation in domestic and European courts.

We made the following recommendations for appointment to our panel in 2019 following an open competition:

 

  • Ross Anderson, Ampersand Advocates
  • Dorothy Bain QC, Ampersand Advocates
  • Scott Blair, Terra Firma Chambers
  • Dan Byrne, Axiom Advocates
  • David W Cobb, Arnot Manderson Advocates
  • Simon Crabb, Arnot Manderson Advocates
  • Stephen Donnelly, Arnot Manderson Advocates
  • Graham Dunlop, Terra Firma Chambers
  • Jacqueline Fordyce, Axiom Advocates
  • Kenneth Gibson, Hastie Stable Advocates
  • Nicola Gilchrist, Arnot Manderson Advocates
  • Tim Haddow, Hastie Stable Advocates
  • Lesley Irvine, Axiom Advocates
  • Vinit Khurana QC, Ampersand Advocates
  • Julius Komorowski, Terra Firma Chambers
  • Kenny McBrearty QC, Axiom Advocates
  • John MacGregor QC, Axiom Advocates
  • Kenneth McGuire, Westwater Advocates
  • Graham Maciver, Ampersand Advocates
  • Julie McKinlay, Hastie Stable Advocates
  • David McLean, Hastie Stable Advocates
  • Niall McLean, Brodies LLP
  • David McNaughtan, Compass Chambers
  • Jonathan Mitchell QC, Arnot Manderson Advocates
  • Aidan O’Neill QC, Ampersand Advocates
  • Christine O’Neill QC, Brodies LLP
  • Safeena Rashid, Hastie Stable Advocates
  • Catherine Smith, Arnot Manderson Advocates
  • Kay Springham QC, Compass Chambers
  • Alice Stobart, Westwater Advocates
  • Ximena Vengoechea, Hastie Stable Advocates
  • Andrew G Webster QC, Hastie Stable Advocates
  • Laura Anne van der Westhuizen, Ampersand Advocates
  • Stephen Winter, Terra Firma Chambers

 

The panel will operate as a framework agreement for up to 4 years. 

The Commission may decide to run a further competition before the expiry of the term to expand the panel membership.   If we decide to do so, we would advertise our intention on our website.

The Commission has also made the following recommendations for appointment to our panel in England and Wales

Last updated: 16 Sep 2020