Our human rights

Human rights are the basic protections that everyone has.

They make sure that the state must treat people with dignity and respect.

Our human rights include what are called ‘civil and political’ rights. These are rights such as:

• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of religion or conscience
• Freedom of assembly
• The right to a fair trial
• The right to privacy
• The right to vote

Our human rights also include ‘economic, social and cultural’ rights. Sometimes called our ‘everyday rights’, these are about the essentials that we all need to live well. These are rights such as:

• The right an adequate standard of living, that includes adequate housing
• The right to the highest attainable level of physical and mental health
• The right to adequate food, housing, sanitation and water
• The right to social security
• The right to education
• Rights at work

Here are some key human rights principles:

• Universal: All of us have human rights that should be respected and protected. They apply regardless of where you’re from, what you look like, your life circumstance, what you’ve done, or what your immigration status is. Everyone deserves dignity.
• Indivisible: Governments cannot pick and choose human rights. All of us need all of them to be fulfilled.
• Equal: Equal treatment and value lie at the heart of human rights.

Did you know that human rights:

• Are about sharing power between those who make the decisions, and those affected by the decisions.
• Put limits on government. With human rights in law, governments cannot do whatever they wish, without thought about the people affected.
• Are not about luxuries or nice ideas. They are baseline, fundamental freedoms and essentials
• Enable Government to be held to account.
• Help people in public bodies to make excellent, robust decisions. A human rights based approach is a valued framework for decision-making.
• Are not only good principles and values (though they are that too) – they are law.

Human rights in law

Our human rights were agreed internationally. The UK helped to develop these agreements, and signed up to them. The first international rights treaty was the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, developed in response to the horrors of World War 2.

Some of our human rights are also protected by UK law. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) mostly includes civil and political rights - this was incorporated into UK law through the Human Rights Act 1998.

The ECHR is also part of the Scotland Act 1998 that set up Scottish devolution. Every law that the Scottish Parliament passes must comply with the ECHR - if it does not, courts can declare it to not be law at all.

Children and young people’s human rights, as set out in the UNCRC, were incorporated into Scots law. This Act commenced in July 2024, and is already impacting children’s lives for good.

The Consortium are campaigning for #AllOurRights to be incorporated into Scots law in the Scottish Human Rights Bill. Alongside human rights already in our law, this Bill will also include our everyday and environmental rights. This would mean that government bodies have to comply with them and report on progress. People will be able to name and claim all of these rights, enforcing them if necessary. This Bill is key to human rights made a reality for all.

Want to find out more?

• Watch this short film from Scottish Human Rights Commission about human rights in Scotland.
• Watch this short film from EachOther titled ‘What are human rights?’
• Lots of accessible info on human rights on the EachOther website
• Check out our resource bank around international human rights treaties
• Get in touch at info@hrcscotland.org