Motion approved to appoint Bruce Adamson as next childrens Commissioner

Date: 22nd March 2017
Category: Respect for the views of the child

Bruce Adamson, currently legal officer at the Scottish Human Rights Commission, has been appointed as the next Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland.

Bruce has over 20 years of experience working as a lawyer in children's rights, practising in the family and criminal courts in New Zealand before moving to Scotland in 2002. He will succeed Tam Baillie who will finish his 6-year term in May 2017.

He has been a member of the Children's Panel for 13 years, working with vulnerable children and their families, and he has also been on advisory boards for a number of public bodies and other organisations, as well as being a former chair of the Scottish Child Law Centre.

In 2013 Bruce was the United Nations representative for the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, representing institutions from over 100 countries to improve human rights in Scotland and across the world.

He has also acted as an international expert for the Council of Europe, the European Union and the OSCE, working in emerging democracies in the Western Balkans and Ukraine, as well as having been involved in a number of international projects.

The children's commissioner role involves promoting and safeguarding the rights of children and young people in Scotland. The commissioner has statutory powers to undertake investigations into whether a service provider has taken the rights, interest and views of children and young people into account when making decisions or taking action that affects children and young people. These powers will be extended this year, giving the commissioner the power to carry out an investigation into a matter raised by an individual child or young person, as well as groups of children or children and young people in general.

Bruce Adamson will succeed Tam Baillie as the Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland on 17th May 2017.

At the Scottish Parliament motion, Bruce was described as a "champion for children's rights".

• Read more via the Scottish Parliament press release here.