Civil Society Working Group 2026 Manifesto: A Call for Human Rights Action

Throughout the UK, we are witnessing a growing push-back against human rights.  

As living standards fall, public services strain and inequalities deepen, communities are becoming fragmented and are told there are not enough resources to uphold everyone’s basic needs.

Across Scotland, communities are already living without access to their basic human rights. Too many are trapped in poverty, housed in unacceptable conditions, and unable to get the education or healthcare they need.

Far-right rallies across the country and violent, racist rhetoric are targeting minoritised and marginalised communities, spreading hate and scapegoating people arriving in the UK seeking safety.

It is in this context that the Civil Society Working Group (CSWG) has launched its manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliamentary elections. The message is clear: now is the time to strengthen protections for everyone in Scotland.

To address Scotland’s systemic failures and growing human rights violations, the CSWG manifesto centres on three crucial demands for the next Scottish Parliament and Government:

1. Introduce a Scottish Human Rights Bill

This legislation must bring four international human rights treaties into Scots law, along with the right to a healthy environment. These treaties protect:

• Women from all forms of discrimination (CEDAW)
• Disabled people and their equal enjoyment of human rights (CRPD)
• Racial and ethnic groups from discrimination (ICERD)
• Everyone’s economic, social and cultural rights, especially those living in poverty (ICESCR)

The Scottish Human Rights Bill would guarantee basic rights such as adequate living standards - food, housing, and clothing - the highest attainable health, fair work conditions and pay, a healthy environment, education, family protection, social security, and cultural participation.

This Bill was promised last year, but the Scottish Government failed to introduce it this parliamentary session and pushed it into the next. The next Scottish Government must prioritise this Bill and deliver on this promise.

2. Implement the UNCRC Act to full effect

In 2024, Scotland made history by becoming the first nation in the UK to incorporate a UN rights treaty into law, giving children stronger protections through the UNCRC Act. But recent developments have weakened its scope, meaning it is not delivering on all children’s rights. Bills are being introduced with carefully crafted ‘carve-outs’ that leave key human rights provisions outside the Act's reach, creating gaps in protection and accountability.

The next Scottish Government must maximise the UNCRC Act's coverage and provide the resources needed to ensure children's rights are realised across all public bodies.

3. Remove barriers to access to justice

Rights are meaningless if people cannot enforce them. When rights are breached in Scotland, people face insurmountable barriers to justice: lack of legal advice, unaffordable legal representation, and under-resourced complaint bodies. Legal aid has been underfunded for years.

Access to justice is not a luxury – it is the bedrock of human rights protection for everyone. Urgent reform is needed across the criminal, civil and administrative justice systems. This must include a strong, well-funded legal aid service to make legal protections a reality for all.

Why This Matters Now

Against a deeply concerning global backdrop of human rights regression, the next Scottish Government and Parliament have both an opportunity and a responsibility to provide leadership and deliver on promises made – no one has human rights until we all have human rights.  

When international systems of justice come under attack, when the far right and others attack the rights of marginalised communities, when individuals, including children and older people, cannot access their basic needs – this is exactly when we must back human rights as the answer to Scotland's challenges.

Poverty, inequality, and broken public services cannot be solved by tinkering around the edges. They require systemic change. A Human Rights Bill for Scotland, full implementation of the UNCRC Act, and genuine access to justice are essential to building the fair society we all deserve.

Learn more about the CSWG’s full manifesto here.

The Civil Society Working Group on Incorporation (CSWG) was established in 2019 by Amnesty International and the Human Rights Consortium Scotland. The CSWG represents organisations that campaign for everyone in Scotland to have their human rights respected, protected and fulfilled in line with international standards.