UNCRC: Bill to come back to Holyrood after Supreme Court defeat

John Swinney has written to the Scottish Secretary Alister Jack vowing the SNP would reintroduce a bill to incorporate the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law after it was defeated in the Supreme Court last year.

The UK Government had taken Nicola Sturgeon’s administration to court over the bill – which was passed unanimously by MSPs – because it fell outwith the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence.

READ MORE: Scottish children's rights bill goes beyond Holyrood competence, court rules

The bill was intended to “extend and enhance human rights protections” in Scotland and to “empower” young people to defend their own rights.

Swinney told the Scotland Office the “disappointment” over the court’s ruling from October 2021 was “felt acutely across Scotland, especially by our children and young people”.

He said civil servants were working on ways to change the bill to make it work within Holyrood’s powers but told Jack the UK Government should change its position to allow the bill to come into force “as originally passed by Scottish Parliament”.

Swinney added: “So we have also identified potential routes to increasing the effectiveness of incorporation, beyond those that are now available to the Scottish Parliament alone.

“These include ensuring that UK Acts in devolved areas – such as education – are subject to the UNCRC, and that the Scottish Parliament can make all legislation within its legislative competence meaningfully subject to international human rights standards.”

READ MORE: Scottish Government 'bitterly disappointed' by Supreme Court ruling, Holyrood told

He urged Scotland Office officials to meet with the Scottish Government as soon as possible to discuss possible strategies for working to protect children’s rights in law.

In the meantime, the Government will reintroduce the bill to Holyrood with changes to reflect the Supreme Court’s ruling from last year.

The bill would give Scottish courts the ability to strike down laws that harmed children’s rights and promised to hold public bodies accountable to young people.

But it was ruled that the bill in the form it was passed would give Scottish ministers power over reserved policy areas and was therefore not acceptable in its current form.

A UK Government spokesperson said: "Protecting vulnerable children and protecting children's rights is a priority for the UK Government, one we share with the Scottish Government.

'It is for the Scottish Government to redraft the legislation in light of the Supreme Court ruling, and for the Scottish Parliament to consider an amended piece of legislation.

"The UK Government is ready to engage constructively with the Scottish Government to ensure relevant issues that may arise are addressed at the earliest possible stage.

"As we have been clear, our referral to the Supreme Court was never about the policy of the Bills, but about whether they were within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament."