“Not Built for Us”: Law and Justice for Scottish Travellers, with Davie Donaldson

In this week’s episode, we speak with Scottish Traveller advocate and social justice campaigner Davie Donaldson about the realities of navigating the legal system as a Traveller in Scotland, and what true justice could look like for Traveller communities.

Drawing on his lived experience and over a decade of advocacy, Davie reflects on the structural barriers embedded within the law, the crisis points where Travellers most often encounter the justice system, and the urgent need for systemic change.

Davie shares his insights on: 

• How the law has been weaponised against Traveller communities, creating a system that is inaccessible, intimidating, and fundamentally unequal
• The reality of legal processes during evictions, and how bureaucracy, time pressure, and legal complexity create impossible tasks for families already in crisis
• Why representation, relationship-building, and community empowerment are essential to transforming the legal system into one that upholds dignity, cultural rights, and justice for all

Additional resources for this episode are linked below:

• Davie’s podcast series ‘The Cruelty: Stolen Generations’ has been shortlisted for the True Crime 2026 awards in the Impact for Change category. Listen here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/m002d7lt
• To learn more about the Public Sector Equality Duty and how an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) should be conducted, read more here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/public-sector/public-sector-equality-duty/assessing-impact-and-public-sector-equality-2
• Davie’s article, “Should Traveller camps be considered ‘Sacred’?” for Conyach Advocacy https://conyach.scot/should-traveller-camps-be-considered-sacred/

Find out more at https://lawmanity.pinecast.co

Read transcript