Human rights are the foundation of just and equitable societies, safeguarding the dignity and freedom of all individuals. For this reason, the Scottish Government has committed to introducing a new Human Rights Bill before the end of the 2023-2024 parliamentary year. As outlined, the proposed Bill aims to incorporate international human rights standards already signed and ratified by the UK into Scottish law. It also strives to enhance existing human rights and equality protections by creating a clear, robust, and accessible legal framework that places specific duties on those delivering devolved public functions .

To inform the development of the new Human Rights Bill, the Scottish Government conducted a public consultation between 15 June and 5 October 2023 and carried out seven public consultation events. The consultation posed 52 questions, with 42 open-text and 10 closed-answer questions.

Alma Economics was commissioned to conduct a transparent, rigorous, and systematic analysis of the responses. We calculated descriptive statistics on the closed-answer questions and conducted a thematic analysis to identify common themes raised in the open-text questions as well as during the seven community consultation events. The findings of our analysis will contribute to evidence-based policymaking and will assist the Scottish Government to further develop proposals for the new Human Rights Bill.

➥ Our report is available here.