Professor Angela O'Hagan

Its annual report for 2025-26, laid before Holyrood on 30 October, covers the second year of the commission’s 2024-28 strategic plan. It says the SHRC regained “A status” accreditation as Scotland’s independent national human rights institution for the fourth time.

Its work included examining the continuing effects of the “Tinker Experiment”, in which Gypsy Travellers were forced to give up their way of life. The commission reported harm including unsafe housing, cultural loss, discrimination and poor health, and called for reparations.

The SHRC also gathered evidence from people in the south of Scotland on housing, health, food and education, and published a report on the state of human rights in Scotland. It produced a guide to prison rules, heard from 33 families whose relatives died in custody, and intervened in a judicial review of Scottish Government policy for the first time.

Professor Angela O’Hagan, Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said: “Across Scotland, and around the world, human rights are under threat. People in Scotland are going hungry, cannot afford housing and cannot access basic services like healthcare where and when they need it. In this context, human rights are more important than ever.

“We are here to listen and take the knowledge of what is going on in people’s everyday lives directly back to the Scottish Parliament.

“Scotland needs a strong human rights watchdog, and I am honoured to report that the SHRC has been re-accredited as an ‘A status’ human rights body, here to serve the people of Scotland.”