Human Rights

One year after the Pegasus Project revelations, the lack of a global moratorium on the sale of spyware is allowing the surveillance industry to continue unchecked, Amnesty International warned today. The Pegasus Project uncovered how governments worldwide were using NSO Group’s invasive Pegasu

Lady Hale, the former president of the UK Supreme Court, has warned of the "risks and dangers" posed by the Bill of Rights in a speech delivered in Belfast. The retired judge was invited to give the keynote address at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's (NIHRC) annual human rights le

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has called on the Scottish government to set out a timescale for removing components from its security systems produced by a firm linked to repression of Uighurs in China. His comments come as a group of 67 MPs and lords have called on the UK gover

Russia has been told by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to stay the execution of two British men serving in the Ukrainian army who were captured in Mariupol and sentenced to death. The applicants, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, are British citizens who were born in 1973 and 1994, respectiv

The UK government's Bill of Rights will severely weaken rights protection in the UK, cause unnecessary legal uncertainty, have serious consequences for the devolved settlements and Good Friday Agreement and is inconsistent with our international obligations under the European Convention on Human Rig

The Scottish Human Rights Commission and Law Society of Scotland have expressed misgivings about the UK government's Bill of Rights. Ian Duddy, chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said the bill would "water down human rights protections".

Freedom of speech and the views of elected lawmakers will be given greater weight in law under the controversial Bill of Rights introduced to Parliament today, the UK government claims. The bill aims to help prevent "trivial human rights claims from wasting judges’ time and taxpayer money". A

An academic human rights lawyer is calling for a change in the law in order to allow those suffering from fuel, food or housing inadequacies to hold the government to account. Professor Katie Boyle, chair of international human rights law at the University of Stirling, says new research reveals that

Deficiencies in Scots law around advance choices and medical decision-making in intensive care situations put human rights in jeopardy, according to a Law Society of Scotland report. A Law Society working group of legal experts, medical practitioners and academics authored the report, published toda

Growing up in care should be a “protected characteristic” in equality legislation, the UK government’s care tsar has said. Josh MacAlister, a former schoolteacher who founded social work charity Frontline, was tasked by the government with leading a review of children’s socia

A Scottish Green Party MSP today launched a consultation on her legislative proposal to designate protest free ‘buffer zones’ outside abortion clinics across the country. Gillian Mackay said that intimidation and harassment outside these healthcare facilities must end, and that legislati

The United Nations Security Council must renew its arms embargo on the territory of South Sudan amid the state’s failure to ensure accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and to protect survivors, witnesses and judicial actors, Amnesty International said today in a new repor

Scouts will now be able to work towards obtaining a human rights badge in Scotland. Cubs and Scouts aged between eight and 14 can undertake challenges towards gaining the badge, the logo for which was designed by 10-year-old Scout, Christopher, from Lenzie in East Dunbartonshire.

A 90-year-old Catholic cardinal was detained by police in Hong Kong under the region's national security law. Joseph Zen, a former bishop of Hong Kong, was arrested over his trusteeship of a humanitarian fund established to assist demonstrators who took part in the pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has expressed concern over UK government plans to bring forward legislation to replace the Human Rights Act with a new Bill of Rights. The commission is strongly opposed to these "deeply regressive proposals" which it believes are based on false premises and a fl