Iain Mitchell QC

Mr Mitchell’s article, Human Rights in the Time of Pandemic, is included in a handbook produced by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) for European Lawyers’ Day (ELD) on Sunday, 25 October.

ELD has been celebrated since 2014, with a theme chosen each year and this year it is: Continuity of justice and respect for human rights in times of pandemic.

Mr Mitchell represents the Faculty at the CCBE and serves as chair of its Surveillance Working Group.

He said: “It was a real honour to be asked to lead the CCBE’s information campaign on this hugely important topic. So much of what we have in the past taken for granted is now under challenge, including even such basic rights as the right to jury trial, and although, with the introduction of remote jury centres, the situation in Scotland has improved since I wrote the article, nonetheless one wonders whether these improvements would have come about had it not been for the efforts of the Faculty among others in opposing the original proposals to abolish or at least dilute jury trials.

“The Faculty has always had a commitment to the upholding of human rights, and it is good to have been given the opportunity to assert those values on a European stage.”

The handbook can be seen here.