PASSPORTS ‘A BREACH OF YOUR RIGHTS’
▪ Chaos as experts warn scheme could break equality laws ▪ Football bosses call for ‘light-touch’ approach to checks
‘Warning of scope for uncertainty’
VACCINE passports may breach human rights and equality laws, legal experts have warned.
The chaos engulfing the SNP’s controversial scheme intensified yesterday, with just two weeks to go until it is due to be introduced.
Legal experts warned that the measure could be seen as discriminatory against those who do not want to be vaccinated and could fall foul of equalities legislation because some minority groups with low jab take-up will be worst affected.
The warning came as football bosses pleaded with the Scottish Government to allow them to take a ‘light touch’ approach by carrying out spot checks visually, without the need to use technology to scan
QR codes, and said the extra stewarding required will cost £5,000 per match.
The hospitality industry estimated 2,000 nightclubs and late-opening bars will be impacted by the scheme and warned it may force some of them out of business.
Ministers also faced heavy criticism for making it ‘impossible’ for firms to prepare for the scheme with key details not yet published.
Dr Catriona McMillan, convener of the health and medical law subcommittee at the Law Society of Scotland, told Holyrood’s Covid-19 recovery committee that there needs to be ‘clarity and consistency’ in law-making but warned there is ‘scope for uncertainty’ around issues such as the definition of a nightclub.
She said there is ‘not a categorical answer’ on whether the scheme could be regarded discriminatory under the Equalities Act. She said: ‘It is uncertain whether things such as anti-vaccine beliefs would be considered as a “protected characteristic” under the Act.
‘We note that in other contexts things like vegetarianism have not been considered protected in an employment context, but other things like ethical veganism have been considered as protected. Certain groups who have lower vaccine uptake are protected by the Equalities Act and thus may be disproportionately affected by the regulations.’
Pressed by the SNP’s John Mason on whether it could ‘fall foul of some of the Equality Act’ despite the ‘good purpose of encouraging people to get vaccinated’, Dr McMillan said: ‘Yes, I think there is potential there.’ She said the Scottish Government needs to define what ‘reasonable measures’ a venue needs to take to check vaccine status ‘as soon as possible’.
Under the SNP’s plans, people will need to prove they have had two doses of the coronavirus vaccine before they enter nightclubs and ‘analogous venues’ when the scheme is introduced on October 1, although these have not yet been defined by the Scottish Government.
They will also need to be displayed for entry to adult entertainment venues, unseated indoor live events with more than 500 people in the audience, unseated outdoor events with more than 4,000 in the audience and at any event with more than 10,000 in attendance.
Neil Doncaster, chief executive of the Scottish Professional Football League, warned clubs need time to plan. He said spot checks are ‘the way forward’, with no fixed numbers which clubs need to check, to avoid bottlenecks and delays on the way into matches.
He said the cost of additional stewarding is estimated at £5,000 a match before any extra technology costs and said discussions are taking place with the Scottish Government about financial support. Gavin Stevenson, of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said there are around 100 nightclubs in Scotland but estimated that the Scottish Government’s plan to include nightclubs and similar late-opening bars in the scheme will mean that around 2,000 venues are affected.
He said: ‘The door steward resources simply do not exist for any significant expansion of stewarding capability capacity.
‘Let’s not forget that even if we just talk about the 100 nightclubs we are potentially talking about a crowd equivalent to Ibrox or Celtic Park every Friday and Saturday night across those 100 venues.
‘So to magic up that stewarding capacity would be virtually impossible with 14 days’ notice.’
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: ‘The more we make these events safer or less likely to be the places the virus is transmitted, the more we are contributing to the suppression of the virus.’
‘Resources simply do not exist’