Report: Human Rights in Scotland’s Future – August 2014
The Scottish Human Rights Commission has published its latest ‘Insights’ paper, to refresh and update the organisation’s contribution to the debate on Scotland’s future.
Whilst remaining neutral on the question of independence itself, the Commission identifies that whatever the outcome, the landscape ahead will contain a complex bundle of opportunities and risks for human rights and sets out a number of priorities for action.
- At a strategic level, implementation of Scotland’s National Action Plan (SNAP) for Human Rights is essential, regardless of the constitutional landscape Scotland finds itself in.
- Continued and concerted efforts are required to build a better culture for human rights so that they become embedded into our everyday lives, including our public services.
- Improving accountability within a better human rights culture, which means assuring, rather than assuming, that our rights are realised in practice.
- Putting human rights at the heart of the outcomes government and public services seek to achieve.
- Plugging gaps in the legal framework of protection that currently exists. The Commission highlight that incorporating all international human rights into Scotland’s own laws would be a particularly big step forward.
The paper notes that whatever the outcome, the post-referendum period offers an unprecedented opportunity to reboot and refocus attention in Scotland on human rights. In light of this, the Commission hopes that their recommendations for action provide a useful contribution to all parties, both in the final phase of the independence debate and, more importantly, as Scotland prepares for 19 September 2014 and beyond.
