NICOLA Sturgeon has announced the launch of a taskforce as the first step towards introducing a Scotland-wide statutory human rights framework (writes Andrew Quinn) .
The move was welcomed by campaigner Bianca Jagger, who spoke at Holyrood yesterday as part of an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the United Nations adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
READ MORE: Scotland set to take lead on human rights in new Act
An independent review group set up by the First Minister has recommended that the new law at Holyrood includes rights already provided by the Human Rights Act and additional economic, social and cultural rights from United Nations treaties. The group also recommends developing a written constitution including a bill of rights for Scotland in the event of independence.
Sturgeon said: “I endorse the report’s overall vision of a new human rights framework with a new act of Parliament at its very heart."
Jagger, who runs her own human rights foundation and is a Council of Europe goodwill ambassador, said: “We are at a crossroads where we must make sure human rights will not suffer if Brexit is imposed on those of us who feel we want to remain part of Europe.”
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