From Henry Ferguson
Dear co-signatory,
It’s almost six weeks since we published the open letter to the First Minister which has been updated to include the 263 signatures received so far. Thank you for your support!
As most of you know, our petition to the Scottish Parliament asking it to recognise Direct Democracy (DD) by enacting the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was rejected and we’re currently contesting the rejection with the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee (CPPPC) (members are: Jackson Carlaw MSP (Convener) & Maurice Goldon MSP (both Conservative), Foysol Choudhury MSP (Labour) and David Torrance MSP (Deputy Convener) & Fergus Ewing MSP (both SNP)).
We’ve shared two things with the CPPPC: 1) the extract from the Scotland Act 1998 which clearly states that ICCPR implementation is within the power of the Scottish parliament; and 2) the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s (SHRC) report that supports our position that ICCPR can be immediately brought into Scots law. Both documents are attached (apologies if you’ve already received this…)
Last week, the Executive Director of the SHRC confirmed our position and we’ll shortly be opening a dialogue with the Chairman to ensure Parliament and Government shortcomings are noted at the highest possible level. (The SHRC is the UN-accredited independent Scottish agency which monitors conformity with Human Rights - including direct Political Rights (i.e. Art 25 of ICCPR) - on behalf of the Scottish People).
We remain confident that the parliamentary petitions team’s position is wrong and we’re still in discussion. It’s not excluded that if implementation of the entire ICCPR presents practical difficulties, we might refocus our Petition to request implementation of only Art. 25 on direct Political Rights.
We’ll give the CPPPC a reasonable period to respond (or not), then we’ll close the FM open letter signature-collection process and begin a new campaign phase with Scotland Decides. Until then, we’re still accepting signatures to the FM letter, so please continue to share widely with family, friends and colleagues.
(s) Henry Ferguson
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Just a note, Scotland Decides is the landing page for all campaigns and is the voting register for public opinion on a wide range of issues. Ultimately all registered voters will be given access to the blockchain voting app which has proven authority both nationally and internationally.
First, a national convention has to examine everything we need in the nation of Scotland and your vote will count at every stage. Plans are progressing and in the meantime we would urge you to register. You can also join for free as a member or subscribe to our blog.
The £2.00 fee for registration is to ensure that we are not subject to authorities or interests which may be contrary to the rights and wishes of the Scottish public. It is a one-off and no further charge will be made.
In the meantime, please consider donating to help us advance our direct democracy project.
You may use the donate button on our home page or make a donation direct to:
Scotland Decides
sort code 80 22 60
a/c no. 26466161
Exciting times are coming!
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