Blog

28.08.2019

Celia Tennant: Our response to the incorporation of the UNCRC in Scots law

At Inspiring Scotland, we firmly believe that the health, happiness and wellbeing of children and young people is paramount.

It is a shared responsibility of civil society – people and organisations across the public, private and third sectors – to protect children and young people. To support them to grow up with the means and opportunities to thrive in life.

For this reason, we believe the rights of children and young people, as expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, should be fully incorporated into Scots Law.

Our work with charities across several of our funds supports children, young people and their families who live with the challenges of poverty and inequality. Through this work we see first-hand what happens when children’s rights are not adequately protected. This is why we wholly support Scottish Government’s commitment to incorporate the UNCRC into law before the end of the current session of the Scottish Parliament in 2021.

In our response to Scottish Government’s consultation on incorporating these rights into law, we have argued for the direct incorporation model for incorporating the UNCRC as the strongest way to protect the rights of children and young people in Scotland.

In preparing our response, we have followed closely the work undertaken by the Incorporation Expert Advisory Group, established by Together Scotland and the Children & Young People’s Commissioner Scotland. These organisations have worked with children and young people to shape their response and we support their efforts and the views of Scotland’s children and young people in making our response.

Inspiring Scotland is fully committed to supporting children and young people, protecting their rights and championing their views. We are delighted to see, not only the commitment of Scottish Government to do the same by incorporating their rights into law, but also the strong commitment from a broad range of organisations to supporting this.

By working together to support our children and young people, by listening to their views and by working with them, we can all help to ensure that children and young people in Scotland grow up safe, happy and healthy.

Celia Tennant
Chief Executive

Read our full consultation response.