Defending the Human Rights Act
The Human Rights Act
The Human Rights Act (the Act), together with the Scotland Act, protects the rights that are contained in the European Convention on Human Rights in Scotland’s own laws.
The Act means that people can raise human rights issues in Scottish courts. It also places a duty on public bodies to comply with human rights in everything they do.
Watch our video explainer on what the Human Rights Act means in Scotland.
Defending the Human Rights Act
In June 2023 the UK Government announced in the House of Commons that it would not proceed with plans to repeal the Human rights Act and replace it with a new Bill of Rights.
This followed a long period of campaigning by human rights defenders, civil society and others, including the Commission, to defend the Act.
In June 2022, the UK Government had published a Bill of Rights which laid out plans to repeal the Human Rights Act. The Commission believed the provisions in the Bill would water down human rights protections, make access to justice more difficult and put the UK in breach of its international obligations. We said that it should be of real concern for all who value human rights and the rule of law. Read our full statement on the Bill of Rights.
The Commission responded to the UK Government’s consultation on its proposals to replace the Human Rights Act with a new Bill of Rights, detailing extensive concerns about the regressive impact of the changes planned.
Read more in this blog from Barbara Bolton, the Commission's Head of Legal and Policy originally published in the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland.
If passed, these proposals would be deeply regressive, undermining 20 years of human rights law and policy development across the UK, making it harder for people to enforce their rights, and putting the UK in breach of its international law obligations. This should be of grave concern to us all.
Barbara Bolton
Head of Legal and Policy
The Commission's work on Defending the Human Rights Act
- Read our statement on the new Bill of Rights, laid before Parliament by the UK Government in June 2022.
- Read our statement on the Queen's Speech in May 2022, which brought forwards legislation to create a new Bill of Rights.
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Read our joint statement with Scottish human rights organisations, rejecting the UK Government's proposals to replace the Human Rights Act
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In July 2021 the Joint Committee on Human Rights published their report concluding there is no case for amending the Human Rights Act, read our news article welcoming this report.
- Read our submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights' call for evidence on the Government’s Independent Human Rights Act Review. (March 2021)
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Read our statement sounding alarm bell on risks to Human Rights Act (March 2021).
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Read the Commission’s full evidence report and executive summary to the UK Government’s latest review of the Human Rights Act (March 2021).
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Read the Commission's submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights' call for evidence on the UK Government’s Independent Human Rights Act Review (March 2021).
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Read our comment on the UK Government’s announcement of a review of the Human Rights Act (December 2020).
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Read our comment on UK Government plans for a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission (December 2019).
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Read our evidence to an Inquiry into 20 years of the Human Rights Act by the UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (2018).
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Read our comment on UK Government proposals for a new British Bill of Rights (2016).
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Read the Commission's progressive test for any proposals to change human rights laws, published in 2015. This makes clear that any changes must protect rights for all, improve people’s lives, ensure accountability, build a better human rights culture, and show international leadership.
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Read our Frequently Asked Questions briefing on the Human Rights Act and proposals to change it (2015).
