Submission to the Scottish Government's COVID-19 public inquiry set-up team
Katie Lines, Dr Richard Mackenzie-Gray Scott
This written evidence has been re-published on the Bingham Centre website with the kind permission of the Scottish Government's COVID-19 public inquiry set-up team
We welcome the public inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the aims already set out in the Inquiry Factsheet, we recommend that the inquiry:
a. Examine the extent to which the Scottish Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic complied with the Rule of Law and principles of good governance;
b. Consider how the Rule of Law and good governance can best be secured in future public health emergencies.
We set out examples of the Rule of Law themes that the inquiry should consider, which include:
a. Parliamentary scrutiny of coronavirus legislation;
b. Transparency of scientific evidence;
c. Clarity of coronavirus legislation and Government messaging;
d. The necessity and proportionality of measures adopted to address coronavirus; and
e. Impacts of the pandemic on the court system and access to justice.
