Scottish Human Rights Commission responds to Programme for Government

The Scottish Government has published its Programme for Government 2026-31 today. In response, Professor Angela O’Hagan, Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said: 

“We are pleased to see the Scottish Government set out a clear time frame for upholding its commitment to incorporating human rights into Scots law in year two of this session of Parliament. A Human Rights Bill is a clear opportunity to put people’s rights at the heart of decision making and service delivery, and to improve access to justice when rights are violated.

We will continue to engage with the Scottish Government and Parliament as these proposals develop, to best ensure the Bill achieves its potential to improve people’s lives in Scotland, navigating as it must the issues of scope of devolved competence.

We are also clear that the Bill is not the only route to strengthening the human rights legal framework in Scotland. We call on the Scottish Government to continue its work on improving access to justice, taking a human rights based approach to budgeting and decision making, and strengthening the mandate of Scotland’s National Human Rights Institution.

"The Scottish Government should ensure that any work to reform public services is focused on realising human rights and making meaningful improvements to people’s lives. These improvements could have real impact on people’s rights in the short term and should be pursued alongside the Human Rights Bill.”

ENDs

For media enquiries please email media@scottishhumanrights.com