Scottish Human Rights Commission

Scottish Human Rights Commission Scotland's human rights watchdog. We can't answer questions here. Email:[email protected]

The Scottish Human Rights Commission is an independent public body, accountable to the people of Scotland through the Scottish Parliament. The Commission has a general duty to promote awareness, understanding and respect for all human rights – economic, social, cultural, civil and political – to everyone, everywhere in Scotland, and to encourage best practice in relation to human rights. Our full

duties and powers are set out in the Scottish Commission for Human Rights Act 2006. The Commission is accredited as an ‘A Status’ National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) within the United Nations (UN) system. This means we can report directly to the UN on human rights issues. We are the only Scottish organisation that can make direct contributions to the UN Human Rights Council. The Commission has powers to recommend changes to law, policy and practice; promote human rights through education, training and publishing research; and to conduct inquiries into the policies and practices of Scottish public authorities.

Human rights can be a solution to poverty 📢Almost one million people in Scotland are living in poverty. People are hungr...
31/08/2026

Human rights can be a solution to poverty 📢

Almost one million people in Scotland are living in poverty. People are hungry. People are homeless or living in inadequate housing and cannot access vital services like healthcare and social security.

But poverty is not inevitable. It is the result of failures by the Scottish Government and other public bodies to meet their human rights obligations.

Today, we launch our new Poverty Spotlight with a policy paper which calls for the Scottish Government to take a human rights based approach to tackling poverty.

Read the new policy paper or find out more about the project on our website:
https://ow.ly/t5zA50ZGE7i

We have submitted a new treaty monitoring report to the Council of Europe on the Framework Convention for the Protection...
21/08/2026

We have submitted a new treaty monitoring report to the Council of Europe on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM).

Read the report on our website:
https://www.scottishhumanrights.com/media/3345/itmmainreport-itm-nationalminorities-fcnm-2026.pdf

13/08/2026

Why are ESC rights important to you? 🏠🍎📚

At the Scottish Human Rights Commission, we monitor, listen, speak up for all of our rights and respond when things go w...
11/08/2026

At the Scottish Human Rights Commission, we monitor, listen, speak up for all of our rights and respond when things go wrong. We help to build a Scotland where human rights are respected, protected and understood.

Swipe to learn what we do and why it matters. 💬✨

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has published a statement on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Statutory C...
04/08/2026

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has published a statement on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's Statutory Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations, which comes into force on 5 August 2026.

The EHRC's Code of Practice explains how the Equality Act 2010 applies to services, public functions, and associations, and provides guidance for public services including the NHS, prisons, and education in Scotland.

The statement sets out the steps Scottish public authorities should take to ensure their approach is consistent with human rights law, including engaging with those affected by policy and practice, and collecting data to monitor how the Code of Practice is operating in practice.

Read the full statement:
https://ow.ly/qbPQ50Zw4o0

🌍The rule of law impacts all of us. ⚖️For the seventh year running, we are shining a light on the rule of law situation...
04/08/2026

🌍The rule of law impacts all of us.

⚖️For the seventh year running, we are shining a light on the rule of law situation in Scotland.

🔍Our on-the-ground insights reveal key rule of law trends and challenges. Among the key findings were:
· Public trust and support for human rights are under pressure, amid growing polarisation, disinformation and opposition to human rights frameworks.
· Challenges persist in law-making processes, including consultation fatigue, limited participation, and concerns about the use of secondary legislation that limits parliamentary scrutiny.
· Access to justice remains a significant challenge, with ongoing concerns about legal aid, complaints mechanisms and effective redress for rights violations

We also make recommendations on how national and regional authorities can strengthen the rule of law, including:
· Rebuild trust through meaningful public participation.
· Embed human rights in law-making and scrutiny.
· Improve access to justice and redress.

Explore the Scotland report here: https://ow.ly/jG1K50ZvMnz

This is one of the country reports compiled in a major, new report from European Network of National Human Rights Institutions on the European rule of law landscape, featuring insights from National Human Rights Institutions ( ) across the Council of Europe region.

🌍Explore the regional trends: https://ow.ly/EMYI50ZvMny

📚See the full regional report with all country findings here: https://ow.ly/MRmB50ZvMnA

We have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Neil Gray, raising serious human rights concerns in Scottish priso...
30/07/2026

We have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Neil Gray, raising serious human rights concerns in Scottish prisons and secure care settings.

Our letter is informed by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) report, which was published in July.

The report's findings echo the conclusions of Review, Recommend, Repeat, our spotlight report from 2024, which found that 83 per cent of recommendations made by international human rights bodies to Scotland over ten years had seen little or no meaningful progress.
We're calling on the Scottish Government to put an end to unacceptable delays and take the action needed to make rights real for people in places of detention.

https://ow.ly/xh4q50ZuA3X

Civil and political rights are the rights that protect our freedoms and ability to participate in society.Swipe to find ...
29/07/2026

Civil and political rights are the rights that protect our freedoms and ability to participate in society.

Swipe to find out more ➡️

Follow us for more clear, accessible explanations of human rights 💡



Our Chair, Professor O’Hagan, was invited to speak at Argyll and Bute Citizens Advice Bureau’s AGM today.Drawing on our ...
28/07/2026

Our Chair, Professor O’Hagan, was invited to speak at Argyll and Bute Citizens Advice Bureau’s AGM today.

Drawing on our work on economic, social and cultural rights in the Highlands and Islands, she highlighted the impact of public service cuts on rural communities and the vital role CABs play in protecting human rights.

Thank you to Argyll and Bute Citizens Advice Bureau, for having us and for putting human rights at the heart of your work.

28/07/2026

We're working towards a Scotland where all BSL users are empowered to name and claim their human rights.

Our first annual progress report demonstrates what we are doing to make that a reality.

In 2025-26, we:
💻 launched a dedicated BSL webpage with over 40 human rights resources
🙋‍♀️ set up an internal taskforce to champion BSL in our work
🤝 set up a working group with other public bodies to pool resources and share best practice.
and much more!

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Bridgeside House, 99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh
EH74NS

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