Human Rights Budget Work: What, Why and How?

A new set of briefing papers has been launched today to explain the “what, why and how” of using human rights to create and scrutinise Scotland’s national budget.

The papers have been developed by the Scottish Human Rights Commission, the Health and Social Care Alliance (the ALLIANCE) and a range of academic and other partners following an EU-funded Human Rights Budget Work project.

Explaining the purpose of the papers, Dr Alison Hosie, Research Officer at the Commission, said:

“All governments have a duty to respect, protect and fulfil human rights – and this duty is now reflected in the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework. The way money is generated, allocated and spent is a crucial part of this. You can’t guarantee people’s rights without funding the policies, institutions and systems that are required to make them a reality.

“There is growing interest in human rights budget work, particularly in light of Scotland’s increased fiscal powers and responsibilities, and with a National Task Force taking forward recommendations to incorporate economic, social and cultural rights into Scotland’s domestic law.

“These new briefing papers are designed to help people navigate human rights budgeting and budget work. The papers set out the human rights principles and standards that should shape budget goals and processes, and provide a detailed set of practical questions and considerations to help assess budget decisions. They also include a comprehensive glossary of key terms and concepts.”

The six briefing papers are available online, individually and as a collated set:

Human Rights Budget Work: What, Why, How? Collected Briefing Papers. [Word] [PDF]

Briefing Paper 1: Human Rights Budget Work. [Word] | PDF

Briefing Paper 2: The Context for Human Rights Budget Work in Scotland. [Word] | [PDF]

Briefing Paper 3: Human Rights Budgeting. [Word] | [PDF]

Briefing Paper 4: Human Rights Budget Scrutiny. [Word] | [PDF]

Briefing Paper 5: Human Rights Standards and the Budget. [Word] | [PDF]

Briefing Paper 6: The Budget Process and Human Rights Procedural Principles. [Word] | [PDF]

Human Rights Budget Work: What, Why, How? Collected Briefing Papers. [Word] | [PDF]

A short blog by Dr Hosie also explains more.