National Care Service: Human Rights and the Charter

4. Human rights: social care, social work and community health

There are many human rights that are relevant to social care, social work and community health support. We have chosen to include some specific human rights that we think are most relevant because they are most likely to be engaged routinely when people access care and support.

If you think that there are other important human rights that we have not included, please contact us at nationalcareservice@gov.scot.

In this document, section 5 is about human rights that are in domestic law and section 6 is about human rights that are in international law only.

For each human right we have provided:

• a brief description of the right drawn from official sources such as the United Nations, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, or the Scottish Human Rights Commission
• some examples of how you might experience this right when you access care and support, and how social care, social work and community health supports may help to respect, protect and fulfil this right
• information about how the right is reflected in the Charter

The examples we provide are taken from information published by human rights organisations and other official sources including the Scottish Human Rights Commission, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. They are not exhaustive and they may not cover all situations or circumstances. They are included as an illustration because people have told us that examples are helpful for understanding.

In some instances, in the descriptions and examples used, we have changed the language slightly from its original source in order to make this document easier to understand. This document should not be viewed as a substitute for the original source, or for the full wording found in the original legislation or human rights treaties.