Children’s Bill ‘too inhibited’

Legislation aimed at improving the lives of children and young people is “inhibited and inward looking” and displays a reluctance to engage with international human rights, MSPs have been told.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill sets out a duty for Scottish ministers to take steps to further the rights of children and young people, and promote awareness and understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

It also places a duty on the wider public sector to report on what it is doing to realise the rights set out in the UNCRC.

But children’s campaigners and human rights organisations say this doesn’t go far enough and have urged politicians to be “thinking bigger”.

During a meeting of Holyrood’s Education Committee, which is currently considering the Bill, they called for the UNCRC to be incorporated in Scots Law.

Alan Miller, chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said: “I have to say, this part of the Bill (concerning UNCRC), the reluctance and the hesitancy to really engage with the international human rights system is not of these times. It’s a very inhibited, inward-looking approach towards the best way of promoting and protecting the human rights of children.

“I say it’s not of these times because we are at a time in Scotland where everyone is looking to see what kind of future country we want.

“We really have to be thinking bigger, and I find the Bill and its reluctance, and even a retreat from a previous consultation on incorporation of the UNCRC, is just not of these times.

“This is an opportunity for us to really get our hands much more around the international human rights system.”

Mr Miller’s view was backed by Juliet Harris, director of Together, an alliance of children’s charities supporting the implementation of human rights.

“If we are going to make rights real … we need to be brave, we need to show that commitment in legislation,” she said.

Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, welcomed the intention of the Scottish Government to further embed UNCRC using the Bill, but he said the rights should be included in Scots Law and suggested a parliamentary inquiry into the feasibility of this.

“The reason for that is quite simply I think it will lead to better outcomes for children and young people,” he said.

Commenting on an inquiry, he said: “I think that would provide the basis for teasing out some of these (legal and academic) opinions and actually allow proper consideration on incorporation.”