Sheriffs criticise ‘catch-all’ use of ECHR

The Sheriff Appeal Court has stated that rights under the European Convention on Human Rights should not be used as a way to ‘fight on’ and as a ‘catch-all position to support an otherwise groundless argument’ in appeals about children’s hearing decisions. In particular, the Sheriffs highlighted that there is already a ground to appeal a Hearing decision after 3 months and that appeals such as this one should be exceptional.

Appeal Sheriff Ross said in the opinion of the court, that:

‘Any argument based on Convention rights must involve a careful analysis of law and fact, and demonstrate that those Convention rights have been breached. Mere assertion of breach is not enough.”

 

 

Image credit: Beth Cortez-Neaval, Flickr