Embedding human rights in Scots Law
In Scotland, civil and political rights are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998 and parts of the Scotland Act 1998. These rights come from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR has been vital in securing justice for ordinary people in their everyday lives. The Scottish Government wholeheartedly support the ECHR and membership of the Council of Europe and the vital role it plays to protect human rights.
The Scottish Ministerial Code says ministers must follow the law, including international law and human rights treaty obligations.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 brings much of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child into Scottish law, within the limits of devolved powers. This covers all aspects of children's lives, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
We plan to develop further protections for particular human rights, where possible within devolution.
Defending the Human Rights Act 1998
The Scottish Government supports the Human Rights Act 1998 and has opposed attempts by past UK Governments to repeal or replace it.
Any changes to the Act could affect Scotland’s devolved institutions because of its constitutional role. The Scottish Parliament should agree on any changes to the Human Rights Act 1998 if proposed in the future.
National human rights institutions
The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for Scotland in all devolved areas. It is an independent public body that promotes awareness, understanding and respect for all human rights to everyone in Scotland, and encourages best practice in relation to human rights. It is an A-status NHRI accredited to the UN Human Rights Council. The Commission is accountable to the people of Scotland, through the Scottish Parliament.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is an independent statutory body. It has the responsibility to encourage equality and diversity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, and protect and promote the human rights of everyone in Great Britain. Their remit extends across Great Britain (Northern Ireland has separate arrangements).
In Scotland, the SHRC and EHRC have a shared human rights remit, and their relationship is regulated by a Memorandum of Understanding. The SHRC has exclusive competence over human rights in devolved matters in Scotland. The EHRC may only act in these areas with the SHRC’s explicit consent.
While both the SHRC and EHRC are independent of government, the Scottish Government engages with these and other public bodies to help promote awareness, understanding and respect for all human rights in its work and policies.
National Performance Framework
Scotland’s National Performance Framework (NPF) has human rights embedded at its heart and includes an explicit human rights national outcome: ‘We respect, protect and fulfil human rights and live free from discrimination’.
We are reviewing the NPF to support a framework to drive public sector reform. We expect to be ready to launch the next iteration of the NPF in 2026. Keep up to date with the status of the NPF.
Mainstreaming equality and human rights
In December 2025 we published our mainstreaming strategy which includes an action plan and toolkit. The strategy focuses on 6 areas:
- strengthening leadership
- developing accountability and transparency
- ensuring effective regulatory and policy environment
- utilising evidence and experience
- enhancing capability and culture
- improving capacity
This was informed by a 2025 consultation. The toolkit provides practical support for public sector organisations to help them embed equality and human rights into their work.
Scotland’s National Action Plan
We published Scotland’s Second National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP2) in March 2023. It sets out 54 actions to advance the realisation of human rights in Scotland. This plan will change over time. It is designed to address ongoing human rights issues, and the actions will be delivered in phases.
Expanding human rights in Scotland: developing a new human rights bill
We are working on expanding human rights in Scotland and we are developing a Human Rights Bill. We plan to introduce it in the parliamentary session 2026, subject to the outcome of the Scottish Parliament election.
The proposed bill will make four international rights treaties part of Scottish law, if successful in its passage through parliament. These treaties are:
- the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights
- the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination
- the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities
- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The bill proposes giving effect to a wide range of internationally recognised human rights belonging to everyone in Scotland, within the limits of devolved competence. It will strengthen domestic legal protections by making them enforceable in Scots law for the very first time.
The bill also proposes to recognise the right to a healthy environment (RTHE) to reinforce the importance of the environment.
Read more about the Bill: A Human Rights Bill for Scotland: Discussion Paper
By March 2026, we will aim to:
- make progress with the UK Government on exploring the scope of our proposed legislation
- strengthen the public sector's knowledge and understanding of the rights proposed to help lay the groundwork for a future bill
- develop a digital tool to improve how we respond to recommendations from international human rights bodies
To support delivery of these four objectives, we have created the following governance groups:
- a Human Rights Implementation and Incorporation Oversight Board chaired by the Minister for Equalities, so that stakeholders can monitor and advise on our progress across our rights incorporation and implementation work
- a Capability Building Working Group looking at government priorities
- we set up a dedicated Tracker Design Group made up of members from across civil society, Parliament and the public sector to support the development of a Human Rights Tracker Tool. The Tracker will be developed in a phased approach. The Tracker will consolidate international human rights body’s Concluding Observations into a single, accessible online platform and provide information on action taken and outcomes
Former governance groups
Our previous human rights governance groups concluded their work in December 2024. The outputs from these groups continue to inform the development of the Human Rights Bill. View the membership, terms of reference, and minutes of meetings for these previous groups:
- Human Rights Bill Advisory Board
- Human Rights Bill Executive Board
- Human Rights Bill Implementation Working Group
- Human Rights Bill Lived Experience Boards
The Lived Experience Board ran from 2022 to 2024. It was made up of members of the public with experience of facing barriers when accessing their human rights under the present status quo. They produced thirteen reports and other materials that provide personal accounts, reflections, advice, and recommendations for human rights legislation, policy, and implementation activities, which continues to inform our work.
Read the reports on the board’s civil society partners’ websites: