Spotlight on All Our Rights in Law conversations

The Scottish Human Rights Commission is highlighting key results from the All Our Rights In Law public engagement project today. The project gathered views from people around Scotland to help inform recommendations for a new human rights law from the National Taskforce on Human Rights Leadership.

You can read the full report here (PDF) 

Read the Easy Read version here 

Watch BSL video

The All Our Rights in Law project was run by the Human Rights Consortium Scotland and the Commission in 2020.

Over 400 people took part in around 35 community conversations, which took place online due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

Across all conversations, people welcomed the idea of putting all of our human rights into Scots law. This was seen as a positive step.

However, across almost every conversation, people also spoke about their significant concerns that this new law needs to be fully put into practice. People felt strongly that ensuring real improvements to their rights requires more than passing a new law - it requires changes in practice and access to justice.

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

“We welcome the findings from this project which is the result of important public engagement. It was essential for us to hear from a broad and diverse range of people from across Scotland, including grassroots community groups and people whose rights are furthest from being realised. It has been a privilege to support that process and hear these vital insights.

“The message we heard from people was loud and clear: all of our internationally protected rights are important and need to be better protected and implemented, both in law and in practice. Access to justice and remedies when things go wrong is also crucial for people.

“People’s experiences and insights will continue to drive and shape what happens next. The Commission looks forward to working with the Scottish Government, the next Scottish Parliament, and people and organisations from across Scotland, to ensure this much needed and ground-breaking new human rights framework becomes a reality as quickly as possible.”

Notes

  1. The Commission welcomes Scottish Government commitment to ground-breaking new human rights law for Scotland on 12 March 2021.
  2. Read the full report from the National Taskforce published on 12 March 2021.
  3. The National Taskforce for Human Rights was established in early 2019, in response to recommendations made in December 2018 by the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights
  4. The United Nations human rights treaties to be incorporated by a new human rights Bill are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
  5. The Commission’s past work in advocating for the incorporation of all international human rights into law is collated on our website.