Standing Up for Human Rights

Fighting the Westminster Race to the Bottom

The SNP fully oppose the abolition of the Human Rights Act. Under the SNP, Scotland is the only part of the UK to have developed a National Action Plan on Human Rights - with an updated second version published in 2023 setting out 54 actions to advance the realisation of human rights in Scotland.

We believe that the protections offered by the Human Rights Act are central to any civilised country and should be a floor rather than a ceiling in protecting the most vulnerable in society and we should look to go even further. Protecting human rights ensures people are free from fear and discrimination and allows governments to tackle social and economic disadvantage.

SNP MPs will oppose any attempts by the UK government to scrap the Human Rights Act and withdraw the UK from the ECHR, which has been critical in securing justice for ordinary people in their everyday lives – including protecting freedom of religion in the workplace and supporting LGBT rights. With some increasingly extreme political voices advocating against these rights, the SNP believe it is vital that those of us who believe in human rights and equality redouble our efforts to stand behind them.

The Scottish Government's United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 directly incorporates the UNCRC into devolved domestic law in Scotland within the limits of devolved competence.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is the most widely ratified human rights treaty worldwide. Among the rights included in the UNCRC are the rights to education, health, play, fair treatment, protection from exploitation and the right to be heard.

In December 2025 the SNP government published our mainstreaming strategy which includes an action plan and toolkit. This provides practical support for public sector organisations to help them embed equality and human rights into their work.

Moreover, the Scottish Government has been working on expanding human rights in Scotland further through the development of a Human Rights Bill, which the SNP would plan to introduce it in the parliamentary session 2026. The proposed bill will make four international rights treaties part of Scottish law, strengthening domestic legal protections by making them enforceable in Scots law for the very first time.