The Consortium Writes to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Devolution
The Consortium Writes to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Devolution
The Consortium Scotland has written to the new Prime Minister, copying the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, to urge action on a significant legal barrier affecting Scotland’s ability to strengthen human rights protections.
In the letter, HRCS welcomes the Prime Minister’s stated commitment to human rights, a written constitution and stronger devolution, while highlighting concerns about the current interpretation of Section 28(7) of the Scotland Act 1998. HRCS argues that this interpretation has limited the Scottish Parliament’s ability to apply human rights duties to UK legislation operating in devolved areas, creating challenges for both the implementation of the UNCRC (Scotland) Act 2024 and the development of a future Human Rights (Scotland) Bill.
The letter calls on the UK Government to work with the Scottish Government to remove these restrictions and restore the practical understanding of devolution that existed when the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. HRCS also urges consideration of a Section 30 Order as a route to confirming that the Scottish Parliament can shape the application of UK legislation within devolved areas.
This intervention builds on the work of our member and partner organisation Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), who recently wrote to the incoming Prime Minister on the same issue. We share Together’s view that addressing this barrier is essential if children and other rights-holders in Scotland are to benefit fully from the protections promised through rights incorporation.
Earlier this year, we published our manifesto briefing for the Scottish Parliament election, which highlighted the need to address the limitations arising from the Scotland Act and called for action to enable meaningful human rights incorporation in Scotland.
Use Our Letter as a Template
We encourage organisations, networks and individuals who support stronger human rights protections in Scotland to write to the Prime Minister and Scotland Office ministers expressing their support for this change.
Our letter is available below and may be adapted for your own use.
Together, we can help ensure that Scotland has the powers necessary to fully realise human rights and strengthen accountability across devolved areas.
Downloads
- HRCS Letter to the Prime Minister (August 2026)
- HRCS Scottish Parliament Election Manifesto Briefing
- Together’s Letter to the Prime Minister
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