Human Rights Bill for Scotland: discussion paper

2.13 Commencement

We propose to commence the Bill’s various duties in a phased manner following Royal Assent. This is designed to reflect the international human rights law understanding of economic, social and cultural rights as requiring incremental improvement over time, and aims to allow duty-bearers adequate time to prepare for full commencement. This approach is reflected in the move from consideration to compliance with the incorporated economic, social and cultural rights as described in the ICESCR Requirements section (section 2.3). Given the nature of the framework, and the need to ensure public bodies are supported throughout its implementation, we do not propose for the Bill to contain specific timings for the commencement of its duties.