Human Rights Incorporation in Scotland

The Scottish Government has committed to introducing a new Human Rights Bill for Scotland. This Bill would incorporate 4 major United Nations human rights treaties. These treaties are:

• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

The Bill will also include the right to a healthy environment, as well as rights for older people and LGBTi people.

The Consortium is dedicated to ensuring that the Scottish Government takes a maximalist approach, incorporating human rights to their fullest and most direct extent.

Incorporating Human Rights in Scotland Resources

About incorporation

• Official Scottish Government Announcement on their commitment to introduce a new Human Rights Bill.
• Incorporating Human Rights in Scotland– a project from the University of Edinburgh, bringing academic research together with civil society expertise to develop a framework for best practice on incorporation.
• International human rights law – a summary– a basic summary of international human rights law from the University of Edinburgh
• What is incorporation?– a basic summary of incorporation from the University of Edinburgh
• Different models of incorporation– a summary of various models of incorporation from the University of Edinburgh
• Timeline of human rights in Scotland and the United Kingdom– a basic timeline of the development of human rights in Scotland and the UK, from the University of Edinburgh

Incorporating Human Rights in Scotland: EasyRead Resources

• International human rights – a summary– EasyRead version
• What is incorporation?– EasyRead version
• Timeline of human rights in Scotland and the United Kingdom – EasyRead version

Incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill– the Bill which, if passed, will incorporate the UN CRC into Scots Law, September 2020
• REFERENCE by the Attorney General and the Advocate General for Scotland – United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill– the Bill is currently being challenged by the UK Government on the basis that certain provisions may be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. This link gives all the basic information about the case, which will be heard on 28th June 2021
• Children’s Rights Bill Reaches UK Supreme Court: Here’s what you need to know– a round-up of information on the Supreme Court case surrounding the UN CRC Bill, from Together
• Stage 1 Consultation- Published Responses– the published responses to the Equality and Human Rights Committee’s call for views on the Bill, October 2020
• Stage 1 Consultation- Published Responses from Children and Young People– the responses of children and young people to the Equality and Human Rights Committee’s call for views on the Bill, October 2020
• Additional information and resources– the Consortium webpage providing more information and resources on the incorporation of the UN CRC

The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership

• The National Taskforce was made up of members of the public sector and civil society. Its role was to establish a statutory framework for the incorporation of many international human rights treaties into domestic law. It published its final recommendations for this new law to the Scottish Government in March 2021.
• The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership- Overview
• The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership- Final Report

Reports, Briefings and Blogs

• If not now, when? Social Renewal Advisory Board report: January 2021– a report from the Social Renewal Advisory Board on its proposals for social renewal following the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Incorporating International Human Rights: Putting independent advocacy at the heart of the new human rights statutory framework in Scotland– a briefing from the Consortium and the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
• features of an Act of Parliament to incorporate international human rights into Scots Law– a briefing by the Civil Society Working Group on Incorporation
• Just Fair celebrates Scotland’s commitment to enshrining economic, social and cultural rights– an article from Just Fair welcoming the Scottish Government’s commitment to a new human rights law
• More rights, better food– a blog from Pete Richie at Nourish Scotland about the potential impact of incorporation on food security
• Incorporating International Human Rights: How the human right to a healthy environment advances the rights of disabled people– a joint briefing from the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland and Inclusion Scotland, September 2021

Infographics

• A summary of international human rights law– infographic on international human rights law, produced by the University of Edinburgh
• What and why of incorporation– infographic explaining the basics of incorporation, produced by the University of Edinburgh
• Different types of incorporation– infographic exploring the different ways in which countries can incorporate international human rights law
• A timeline of human rights in the UK– infographic with a basic timeline of laws which protect human rights in the UK
  

Quick Case Studies

• Case study- Iceland
• Case study- Norway
• Case study- South Africa
• Case study- Switzerland

Academic Papers

• Incorporating International Human Rights in a Devolved Context– a paper by Dr Kasey McCall-Smith on incorporation of human rights in Scotland
• Incorporating Human Rights in Scotland: Best Practice Framework from International Examples– a paper from the University of Edinburgh which uses international examples to identify a best practice framework for incorporation in Scotland
• Realising international human rights: Scotland on the global stage– a paper by Jo Ferrie, Rebecca Wallace and Elaine Webster on Scotland’s approach to human rights in an international context
  

Videos

• What is incorporation and why does it matter?– a training session given by Dr Kasey McCall-Smith on the basics of human rights incorporation
• Incorporation in context: Lessons from other countries– a training session given by Sofie Quist and Veronica Luhtanen on what Scotland can learn from incorporation in other countries.
• Why do you support human rights incorporation?– Dr Elaine Webster from the University of Strathclyde explains why she supports the incorporation of human rights treaties into Scots law
• Why do you support human rights incorporation?– Heather Fisken from Inclusion Scotland explains why she supports the incorporation of human rights treaties into Scots law
• Why do you support human rights incorporation?– Juliet Harris from Together explains why she supports the incorporation of human rights treaties into Scots law
• Why do you support human rights incorporation?– Clare MacGillivray from Making Rights Real explains why she supports the incorporation of human rights treaties into Scots law
• Why do you support human rights incorporation?– Vhairi Tollan from Scottish Environment LINK explains why she supports the incorporation of human rights treaties into Scots law
• Why do you support human rights incorporation?– Mhairi Snowden from the Consortium explains why she supports the incorporation of human rights treaties into Scots law

Podcasts

• Build forward better: why funding human rights matters– a podcast explaining why incorporation of human rights should be a priority for civil society funders.

All Our Rights in Law

• All Our Rights in Law was a public participation programme, set up by the Human Rights Consortium Scotland and the Scottish Human Rights Commission in November 2020.
• Its goal was to facilitate discussions around a new human rights law for Scotland, and report to the National Taskforce (see above) on what ordinary people think about human rights incorporation.
• A wide variety of civil society organisations engaged with All Our Rights in Law, and held discussions with rights-holders.
• Click here to find out more about All Our Rights in Law
• Click here to read the final report from the project
• Click here to read the Easy Read report
• Click here to read the 1-page summary
• Click here to read participants’ final messages to the Scottish Government
• Click here to watch a video (with BSL interpretation) on the key findings of All Our Rights in Law