Commission welcomes National Taskforce on Human Rights Leadership

The Scottish Human Rights Commission warmly welcomes the Scottish Government announcement today of a National Taskforce on Human Rights Leadership. The Task Force will take forward the recommendations made by the First Minister's Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership including new human rights legislation for Scotland.

 Judith Robertson, Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said:

"The ambition set out by the First Minister's Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership is bold and far reaching. This taskforce is a key step on the journey towards achieving that ambition where rights are better protected in law and better realised in practice.

"At the Commission we know that issues of poverty and barriers to accessing food, health, social security and housing are central human rights concerns. The corresponding rights protections are well established in international law and yet are not enforceable in Scotland. A new Act of the Scottish Parliament to protect these rights will close this accountability gap, widen the scope of protections and deepen the culture of human rights accountability across public bodies.

"Since 2013 Scotland's National Action Plan on Human Rights has provided a vision of a collaborative and innovative approach to advance the realisation of human rights in Scotland. The government's commitment to the new task force is an exciting opportunity to advance and sustain Scotland's National Action Plan going forward. This will help to drive progress grounded in people's everyday experience, driven by a collective commitment to ensure people are free to live in dignity in accordance with their human rights.

"The Commission looks forward to working with the taskforce and all concerned to secure progress towards stronger accountability and monitoring of rights, in turn leadings to better services and outcomes for people."

ENDS