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The Scottish Human Rights Commission (the Commission) has made its submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the human rights record of the UK as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.
The UK was last reviewed in 2008. The UPR process involves gathering information from the State, civil society, UN human rights system and national human rights institutions, such as the Commission. The UK’s human rights record will be discussed at the Human Rights Council in May 2012 with a final report due late next year.
In its submission the Commission outlines progress which has been made since the last review, recognising that Scotland has integrated a human rights based approach in a number of its laws, strategies and increasingly in policies.
To build on these developments the Commission recommends a series of steps including the development of a national human rights action plan for Scotland, improved mechanisms within the Scottish Parliament to ensure the consistent consideration of human rights, and the use of processes to consider the impact of decisions on human rights. The Commission also considers that progress on human rights in Scotland is currently threatened by a failure to incorporate the UK’s international human rights obligations into domestic law, and the potential introduction of a weaker Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act.
The Commission makes a series of recommendations aimed at strengthening and improving the UK’s human rights record. The Commission believes the UK Government should:
The Commission also recommends that the Scottish Government should: