Colin McKay

colin mckay

Professor Colin McKay

Professor

 0131 455 5211

  C.McKay@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

I joined the Centre for Mental Health and Capacity Law as a Professor in 2020. From 2014 to 2020 I was the Chief Executive of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. From 1999-2014 I was a civil servant (from 2004 senior civil servant) with the Scottish Government. Areas I worked on included justice policy, public service reform, strategy, and mental health. I was secretary to the Millan committee on mental health law and the MacLean committee on serious violent and sexual offenders. I trained as a solicitor and from 1989-1998 was a legal and policy adviser with ENABLE Scotland.
I am a member of the Executive of the review of mental health law led by John Scott QC, and previously chaired a working group of the Wessely review of the English Mental Health Act.

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COVID-19 Public Inquiry: Research Report for Portfolio 3: The Provision of Health and Social Care: Social Care for Children

Report
McKay, C., Stavert, J., Breen, C., McKay, E., Spassiani, N., Rose, S., Petropoulou, E., Davey, J., Sterman, J., Thompson, K., Higgins, A., Woodrow, A., & King, M. COVID-19 Public Inquiry: Research Report for Portfolio 3: The Provision of Health and Social Care: Social Care for Children. Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry

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McKay, C., Stavert, J., Breen, C., McKay, E., Spassiani, N., Rose, S., Petropoulou, E., Davey, J., Sterman, J., Thompson, K., Higgins, A., Woodrow, A., & King, M. COVID-19 Public Inquiry: Research Report for Portfolio 3: The Provision of Health and Social Care: Social Care for Children. Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry
This report reviews available evidence regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social care for children in Scotland, focusing on the strategic response of the Scottis...

Unified Mental Health and Capacity Law: Creating Parity and Non-Discrimination?

Journal Article
Stavert, J., & McKay, C. (2025)
Unified Mental Health and Capacity Law: Creating Parity and Non-Discrimination?  . International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 101, Article 102108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2025.102108
It has been argued that a fusion of mental health and capacity law creates parity and respects non-discrimination. This approach has been adopted in the Mental Capacity Act (N...

Scotland, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and repurposing of mental health and capacity law

Journal Article
Stavert, J., & McKay, C. (2025)
Scotland, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and repurposing of mental health and capacity law. Human Rights Law Review, 25(2), Article ngaf008. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaf008
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) requires a reconceptualised approach to rights enjoyment by persons with mental disabilities promoting equalit...

Unified Mental Health and Capacity Law: Creating Parity and Non-Discrimination?

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Stavert, J., & McKay, C. (2024, July)
Unified Mental Health and Capacity Law: Creating Parity and Non-Discrimination?. Paper presented at International Academy of Law and Mental Health Congress 2024, Barcelona, Spain
It has been argued that a fusion of mental health and capacity law creates parity and respects nondiscrimination. This approach has been adopted in the Mental Capacity Act (No...

COVID-19 Public Inquiry: Research Report for Portfolio 3 The Provision of Health and Social Care Services Adult Social Care

Report
McKay, C., Stavert, J., Johnston, L., Murray, J., Rek, J., Breen, C., Zarins, A., Woodrow, A., Anderson, L., & King, M. (2024)
COVID-19 Public Inquiry: Research Report for Portfolio 3 The Provision of Health and Social Care Services Adult Social Care. Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry
Report commissioned by Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry into the Scottish Government's strategic response to the COVID pandemic in relation to the provision of healthcare serv...

Detention of children and adolescents under mental health legislation: a scoping review of prevalence, risk factors, and legal frameworks

Journal Article
Schölin, L., Tucker, Z., Chopra, A., Borschmann, R., & McKay, C. (2024)
Detention of children and adolescents under mental health legislation: a scoping review of prevalence, risk factors, and legal frameworks. BMC Pediatrics, 24(1), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-023-04464-6
Background: For individuals with severe mental illness, involuntary assessment and/or treatment (hereafter detention) can be a necessary intervention to support recovery and m...

Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry Research: Update of Health and Social Care research covering the period February 2022 to 31 December 2022

Report
Report commissioned by Scottish COVID-19 Public Inquiry to update previous research into strategic response of Scottish Government to COVID pandemic in relation to health and ...

Research Report for COVID-19 Public Inquiry

Report
This report was commissioned by the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry as introductory scoping research.

Scottish Mental Health Law Review: Final Report

Report
McKay, C., Stavert, J., Scott, J., Martin, K., Rankin, A., & Morgan, G. (2022)
Scottish Mental Health Law Review: Final Report. Scottish Government
Report commissioned by Scottish Ministers to review Scottish mental health, capacity and adult protection law, to improve the rights and protections of persons with a mental d...

Scottish Mental Health Law Review

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Stavert, J., McKay, C., Scott, J., Martin, K., & Morgan, G. (2022, June)
Scottish Mental Health Law Review. Paper presented at World Congress on Adult Capacity, Edinburgh, UK