Holyrood to appoint new Chair of Scottish Human Rights Commission

The appointment of Angela O’Hagan as the new Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission is to be endorsed by the Scottish Parliament on 16 May.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission’s role is to promote widespread awareness, understanding of, and respect for human rights.

The appointment follows an open recruitment process which sought candidates with a proven track record of promoting human rights, experience of successfully leading an organisation and excellent interpersonal and team working skills.

Professor O’Hagan will take up post in August 2024.

Angela O’Hagan is currently Professor of Equality and Public Policy at Glasgow Caledonian University where she created the current MSc in Human Rights and previously led the MSc in Citizenship and Human Rights. 

She is the Depute Director of the WISE Centre for Economic Justice.

Her career encompasses leadership roles in the community and statutory sectors in Scotland, including as Director of Carers Scotland, and Head of Campaigns and Communications with Oxfam Scotland, after a period with the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Throughout her career Professor O’Hagan has focused on integrating equality and human rights analysis in public policy, policy analysis and service design.

She has served on a number of advisory and project groups with successive Scottish Governments including currently as the independent chair of the Equality and Human Rights Budget Advisory Group and the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls, and previously as a member of the Commission on Local Tax Reform.

Professor O’Hagan has an international profile, particularly in gender and human rights budgeting, and through membership of academic and civil society networks.  In 2019, she was awarded the Jo Cox Award for Public Service and Activity Citizenship by the Political Studies Association.

Terms of appointment

• The appointment is for a single term of 6 years.
• The post attracts a daily fee rate of £351 and is not pensionable.
• The time commitment is 10 days a month, 120 days a year.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission

The Commission is the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) for Scotland.  NHRls are independent organisations established by law, to promote and protect human rights.

The Commission is one of over 100 NHRls around the world.