Bruce Adamson


Bruce Adamson is the Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland, since 2017.

Early life

Adamson was from Palmerston North, New Zealand. He attended Palmerston North Boys' High School. He studied at the Victoria University of Wellington where he did a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws at Victoria.
Adamson practised in the family and criminal courts in New Zealand before moving to Scotland in 2002.

Background

Adamson was part of the team when the Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People was set up in 2005.
He was a legal officer at the Scottish Human Rights Commission.
He worked as a member of Children's Panels.
In 2013 he was seconded to a position in Geneva, represent the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.
In this position he was representing institutions from over 100 countries, working to improve human rights across the world.

Children and Young People's Commissioner

On 14 March 2017, Parliament approved his nomination.
Adamson has spoken in support of a ban of smacking and the raising of the age of criminal responsibility.