Raasay Crofters Association was launched 18 years ago to manage the rights on behalf of local crofters after public body Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise told the then Scottish Executive that it no longer wished to lease them.

BBC: Raasay crofters' anger at loss of sporting rights

Alan Miller, professor of human-rights law at Strathclyde University, says that any body with public functions local councils, quangos like employment-law tribunals, and even privatised utilities will come under the scope of the human-rights law.

ECONOMIST: Human-rights law

But even if Kitzhaber and Oregon lawmakers pass the public safety emergency bill, local legislative leaders and the county's governing body would have to consent to it.

CNN: 911 calls go unanswered in some Oregon counties