For over 10 years, children and young people have been calling for their human rights to be made part of the law in Scotland. There have been lots of twists and turns along the way. This blog is for children and young people, to help keep them up to date with what’s been happening and what’s coming up next. 

1. First things first!

Over the last 10 years, Together has been incredibly lucky to work alongside many inspiring children and young people as they campaign for their rights to become law.

We know that lots of you are experts on this topic already but you’ve also told us that lots of children and young people don’t know about their rights. We want to start off with a little bit of background to help get everyone on the same page.

If you’re up to speed on these things already and just want to hear about the latest updates then please click here to skip ahead.

What are children’s and young people’s rights?

Every child is born with human rights. These are things they need to grow up happy, healthy and safe. Children and young people have lots of rights, for example:

● The right to learn and go to school

● The right to have a say and be listened to

● The right to good food and clean water

● The right to play

Children and young people’s rights are written down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (or UNCRC for short). If you’re under 18 then you have rights under the UNCRC. You can find out more about your rights here.

Countries around the world can make a promise to protect children’s rights by signing up to the UNCRC.

What is the UNCRC Bill?

The Scottish Government wants to make children’s rights part of the law in Scotland. In 2020, they wrote a new Bill to help make this happen. A Bill is a document that could become a law.

The Bill has a very long name. It’s called the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill. We’ll call it the UNCRC Bill for short.

Making children and young people’s rights part of the law means the Scottish Government and organisations like schools, local councils and the police will need to think about your rights when making decisions. If they don’t respect your rights, then you might be able to complain to a judge. The judge can help decide if something has gone wrong and how to fix it.

What’s happened so far?

The UNCRC Bill has not become a law yet. This is because the UK Supreme Court in London said that some changes need to be made before this can happen.

The Scottish Government has been busy thinking about how to make these changes so that the UNCRC Bill can become a law. It decided that the best way forward was to say that the UNCRC Bill will only cover laws made in Scotland and not laws made in the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government wrote a letter to children and young people to explain these changes.

The Scottish Government has now asked the Scottish Parliament to decide if these changes should be made.

2. What’s happening now?

Over the last few weeks, the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee has been speaking to experts about the changes that the Scottish Government wants to make.

The Committee has been asking these experts what they think about the changes. Some of the experts had spoken with children and young people to help them decide what to say. The Committee has also spoken to Shirley-Anne Somerville who works for Scottish Government.

Children and young people have a right to be heard when decision are made that affect them. It’s really important that their views about these changes are listened to. Children and young people sent the Committee two videos to share their views:

• Watch Safiyah, Arden, Omima and Ellie’s video here (Members of the Rights Detectives, Children’s Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament) 

• Watch Sophie, Faye and Grace’s video here (Young Advisors to the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland)

Last week, the Committee wrote a letter to the Scottish Government about what they had heard and what they think should happen next.

What did the Committee’s letter say?

The letter has lots of quotes from adults but none from children and young people. A lot of the big issues that children and young people raised are still talked about in the letter but it can be a bit tricky to find them.

We want to make sure that children and young people know what the Committee said about the things that are important to them. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

(A) Adults should remember that incorporation is the start of the journey

Children and young people told the Committee that they know the UNCRC Bill needs to change before it can become a law. Even though these changes will mean the UNCRC Bill isn’t as powerful as it was before, children and young people said it was still really important as a first step.

Children and young people said the UNCRC Bill would give children extra protections and it could be made stronger over time. They said lots of other things will also need to happen to make sure all children and young people have their rights, like making sure that everyone knows about the new law and what they need to do.

Children and young people said they hoped that these things could happen “really soon” but they know some things might need a bit of time.

“I know the UNCRC bill was set to be put into law but it got knocked back by the Supreme Court in England. And since then, the [Scottish] government has been trying to change it so it fits with our devolved government laws so we’re not outstepping our power to protect the kids.” (Arden MCP)

“I hope the changes take place really soon. I mean, considering the length of time that his has been going on for. I think it’s really important that we do it sooner rather than later.” (Faye, Young Advisor) 

“I feel that the majority is getting through so that’s really important. Even though it would be good to have the other bit we understand that it can’t [get through]…it’s still a good positive change for young people’s lives. ” (Grace, Young Advisor)

“this bill is just the beginning. The culture change aspect is really more important now and what would really put children and young people’s minds and at ease is that they think that adults are respecting their rights  – and that it’s something that’s natural and not just because it’s required by law.” (Ellie MSYP)

In its letter to the Scottish Government, the Committee agreed that making children’s rights part of the law was a good thing to do. It agreed that even though there have been some changes to the Bill, it will still add extra protections for children’s rights. The Committee said it was happy that the Scottish Government had thought of lots of different ways to fix the Bill and had decided on the best idea from the choices it had.

(B) Make sure there’s information for children and young people and involve them in decisions

Children and young people reminded the Committee that they have a right to be involved in decisions that affect them.

They said that they need to have clear, easy to understand information about their rights and the UNCRC Bill. They said some children and young people don’t know about their rights so can’t get involved in decisions about the UNCRC Bill. Not knowing about their rights also means they don’t know when they’ve been broken or what to do about it:

“It’s essential that children and young people are communicated with in a child and youth-friendly way to ensure they understand the protections this bill will give them.” (Beau MSYP)

“If children can’t understand then explain in a way that they can process it” (Safiyah, Rights Detective)

“I feel like other young people and not getting like the education about what the UNCRC is – and incorporation with the UNCRC into Scots law. So I feel that when it does get passed and go into law that education for children and young people should be very important for it due to them not having a full understanding” (Grace, Young Advisor)

“I think not many kids actually know how it went – there wasn’t a lot of publicity about it. I know most kids in my school didn’t know about it. They didn’t know about the UNCRC never mind the law getting passed. I’m not sure that’s different for other people but I know if I asked my friends they wouldn’t know apart from me telling them.” (Arden MCP)

The Committee said it had spoken to Shirley-Anne Sommerville MSP, who is in charge of the UNCRC Bill for Scottish Government. She made a promise to work with children and young people and to make sure she focuses on what matters to them. The Committee said it was happy to hear this.

The Committee also said there needs to be clear information for everyone, including children and young people but also adults who have to follow the new law. The Committee said the Scottish Government had made a promise to work closely with children, young people and the people who support them to make sure they have the information they need. The Committee said it was happy to hear this promise being made.

(C) Do a check of all the laws that affect children and young people

Children and young people told the Committee that they understood that UNCRC Bill was being changed so that it would only cover laws made in Scotland and not laws made by the UK Parliament. They said this could make them feel a bit worried about when their rights would be protected and when they wouldn’t.

They said it was important to check what laws impact children and young people’s rights and bring as many of these into Scots law as possible so that children’s rights are protected as much as possible:

“I think there’s a few things the government should do to try to help this worry. One is going through all of the laws that are no longer covered by the bill and working with children and young people to prioritise which laws should be trying to be brought into the scope of the bill.” (Ellie MSYP)

“I mean, I think it was important to us to have everything incorporated, but obviously there are, like, laws in place that stop that from happening. And we understand that, but like, inclusion of children and young people’s rights is to get as much in there as you can.” (Faye, Young Advisor)

The Committee said it was really important that public authorities like local councils, schools and the police know what they have to do. The Committee said that the Scottish Government had made a promise to look at laws from the UK Parliament that affect children and young people’s rights and see what can be done to bring those into Scots law so that children’s rights are protected as much as possible. The Committee said it was happy that the Scottish Government was doing this and that it looked forward to hearing how this goes.

(D) Make sure there’s help if things go wrong

Children and young people told the Committee that what’s most important to them is knowing what their rights are, who they can speak to if things go wrong, and feeling safe and supported to complaint so something can be done about it.

“I think there should be a children’s rights website that you can talk to someone and get their advice.” (Safiyah, Rights Detective)

“Who can you report to if your rights are being breached? Whether it’s through school or anonymous online or something like that.” (Arden MCP)

The Committee said it was really important that children and young people know what to do if they think their rights have been broken. It didn’t make any recommendation about what this should look like, but it did mention some ideas that the experts had spoken about, for example new ways for children to complain anonymously or a type of map that can help children see who they can speak to if they are worried. 

3. What’s happens next?

The Scottish Government will read the Committee’s letter and decide what actions it should take next.

Politicians in the Scottish Parliament are getting ready for a debate on the UNCRC Bill. They will have a vote to decide if they agree to the changes that the Scottish Government wants to make. We think this vote will happen in December but we don’t know the exact date yet.

If the UNCRC Bill passes this vote then we need to wait a few weeks to make sure the UK Government  is happy with the changes. If they are, then the UNCRC Bill just needs one final stamp of approval from the King (called ‘Royal Assent) and your rights will become law six months later.

If the UK Government isn’t happy with the changes then it might decide to send the UNCRC Bill back to the UK Supreme Court for another check.

If everything goes to plan, we hope to see children’s and young people rights become law in the middle of 2024.

We’re ready to stand up for your rights and hold the Scottish Government to its promises!

If you want to find out more please contact info@togetherscotland.org.uk