Human rights at Westminster

We defend human rights in the UK. 

We bring Scottish civil society voices to human rights debates and developments at Westminster, working closely with partner organisations from every part of the UK.

Defending the Human Rights Act

We help to coordinate a UK coalition to defend the Human Rights Act (HRA). We led Scottish civil society to speak up against its threatened repeal. 

We have also:

• Asked the Scottish Government to improve information and capacity around the HRA in Scotland. The HRA should be included as part of awareness raising around the Scottish Human Rights Bill.
• Held an event, with partners from Northern Ireland and Wales titled ‘Reflections on Implementation of the Human Rights Act’.
• Carried out a survey of public bodies on consideration of their HRA duties before and during COVID-19. 

Advocating for human rights incorporation by UK Parliament

The Scottish Human Rights Bill will incorporate economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) into devolved Scots law – but it cannot put them into all UK law. This can only be done by the UK Parliament. 

We are campaigning for a strong and effective Scottish Human Rights Bill. We are also campaigning for the UK Government to incorporate ESCR at a UK level – this means that it would cover reserved areas like immigration, all social security, foreign policy, and more.

The Consortium is on the steering group of the UK Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Network, led by Just Fair.  This network campaigns for the incorporation of these rights at a UK level.

We also campaign for incorporation of the UNCRC across the UK.

For more information, contact info@hrcscotland.org.

Reset devolution

We are asking the UK Government to amend the Scotland Act to enable effective devolved human rights law.  Find out more about why this is so important here.

And more …

• We are steering group members of the Civil Society Alliance, working together to protect rights and standards in the UK.
• We help coordinate diverse Scottish civil society voices to speak up on protecting refugees’ rights.
• We worked to ensure human rights protections were maintained as the UK left the European Union.

 

Want to find out more or get involved?

• Join the Consortium
• Follow us on X at @HRCScotland and LinkedIn
• Keep informed via our e-newsletter
• Get in touch at info@hrcscotland.org