What is the Universal Periodic Review?
Every four years the UK’s overall human rights record is considered by the other countries which are members of the United Nations Human Rights Council in a process called Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
UPR is based on the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all UN human rights conventions to which the UK is party. The UK was last reviewed in 2008 and reports from this review can be found on the UN website. The government (State) is required to submit a full report and other interested stakeholders are invited to submit their own submissions.
When is the UK next reviewed and how can I contribute?
The next review of the state of human rights across the UK will take place in 2012. The deadline for submissions to the 'stakeholder report' was 21 November 2011.
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Read the Commission's submission to the UPR process in Word format.
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Read the Commission's submission to the UPR process in large print Word format.
What happens next?
As a guide the timeline for the Universal Periodic Review into the UK is that the UK Government will submit its report on 5 March 2012. This will be reviewed by the Human Rights Council in May / June 2012, and the Human Rights Council will issue its final report around September / October 2012. The Commission, together with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, is in contact with the UK and devolved administrations to encourage as broad a consultation and involvement in the preparation of the State report as possible.
How was the Commission's submission developed?
To help build the capacity of civil society in Scotland to take part in the UPR process within tight deadlines, the Commission facilitated an information session on UPR for voluntary sector organisations. A diverse range of small and larger NGOs from different sectors took part at the event in September 2011 and discussed possibilities for collaboration in parallel report writing, lobbying tactics and suggestions for ensuring implementation of future UK recommendations.
The Scottish Government gave a presentation on its contribution to the UK state report and the opportunities to consult on this, and there were perespectives from the current experience of first cylcle review in Ireland from a colleague at the Irish Human Rights Commission.
Copies of some of the presentations from the event are available to view:
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Presentation from Duncan Wilson, Head of Strategy and Legal, Scottish Human Rights Commission (in powerpoint format) covering - What is UPR? What is the Commission's approach? How can civil society in Scotland be involved?
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Presentation from Trevor Owen, Human Rights Policy Manager, Scottish Government (in powerpoint format) covering - How is the Scottish Government contributing to the UK State report? How can civil society in Scotland be involved?
To find out more about UPR in general, the following further links may be useful.
From the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:
Schedule of countries coming up for review under the UPR
Information note for NGOs on the UPR
From civil society organisations:
Amnesty International guidance on the role of civil society in UPR
Irish Council for Civil Liberties and UPR.info.org Plain English Guide to UPR
The United Nations has a webcasting service which broadcasts live proceedings including of the Interactive Dialogue at the Human Rights Council (this is the question and answer session involving member states, the UK Government, national human rights institutions and civil society delegations - it is likely to take place in May or June 2012 for the UK) and the adoption of the State report (likely to be September or October 2012). So if you would like to observe proceedings but cannot attend as part of a delegation in Geneva, you can watch live from Scotland.
If you have any further questions on the different ways to engage with UPR in Scotland, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at hello@scottishhumanrights.com