Commission publishes its Annual Report 2020-21

The Commission's Annual Report 2020-21 has been laid at the Scottish Parliament. 

In a year that was deeply affected by COVID-19, we experienced a sharp rise in demand for the Commission’s expertise and input, given the serious human rights considerations arising from the pandemic. 

The Commission monitored and drew attention to a range of human rights issues during the immediate pandemic response, across multiple issues and contexts. 

We successfully influenced changes to emergency legislation, prison practices and clinical guidance. 

And while responding to the immediate challenges and demands of COVID-19, the Commission also made good progress throughout the year towards the key priorities of our Strategic Plan 2020-24. 

We welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to incorporating a wide-ranging set of international human rights directly into Scots law. 

We also welcomed two new important pieces of legislation affecting people’s rights. One, to provide financial redress for survivors of historical child abuse in care, and another to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law. 

Good progress was made this year in advancing an informed discourse around human rights in the media, social media and within the Scottish Parliament and public policy arena. 

We also progressed work to embed the participation of people with lived experience of human rights in our work. 

As the year drew to a close, the Commission was pleased to secure commitment from the Scottish Government to provide financial and other resources to support the next phase of Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights.