Children's Rights and the UNCRC

Children's Rights and the UNCRC

New legislation has been introduced to incorporate the UNCRC into Scots law within the powers of the Scottish Parliament. The new duties under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 will come into force in July 2024.

The Act aims to ensure that:

  • Children's rights are respected and protected in the law in Scotland; and
  • Public authorities are legally required to respect and protect children's rights in the work they do.

The ambition of the UNCRC Act is to deliver a proactive culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights across public services in Scotland. It will require all Scotland’s public authorities to take proactive steps to ensure the protection of children’s rights in their decision-making and service delivery and make it unlawful for public authorities, including the Scottish Government, to act incompatibly with the UNCRC requirements as set out in the Act.

The Act means that:

Public authorities (including councils and health boards) will be required to comply with the UNCRC requirements when delivering devolved functions conferred by or under Acts of the Scottish Parliament or under common law powers.

The Act also gives children and young people access to the Courts if they feel their rights have been breached in devolved areas and also brings a range of responsibilities to Scottish Ministers.

Key features of the act are as follows:

  • Making sure the voice and lived experience of children and young people informs our planning and delivery of public services and how those services help realise children’s rights.
  • Carrying out Children’s Rights Wellbeing Impact assessments (CRWIA) when a new strategy, policy is being developed, or when there is a change in public services planned.
  • Public bodies publishing Children’s Rights Reports to communicate how they are complying with the new act.
  • Ensuring all children and young people know about their rights.
  • Public bodies having child friendly complaints procedures in place.

Resources

Lots of resources are available to support organisations and groups get ready and comply with the duties in the new act. Some of these are available here:

Here's a list of guidance and resources that are currently available: 

Training

Young people led UNCRC training webinar: