The journey to UNCRC incorporation doesn’t end here

The Scottish Parliament has unanimously voted in favour of the UNCRC (Incorporation) Scotland bill, which is a momentous occasion for Scotland, and the Children and Young People within it.

Over the years, a movement of young people placed the building blocks that lead to the passing of this legislation. Which is why it is so important to realise that the journey does not end here.

Once the bill receives Royal Assent, the UNCRC will officially be incorporated within our law. But our laws, as they stand, are not entirely compliant with the UNCRC.

The Scottish Government clearly recognised this when they included provision to change current laws if they do not meet UNCRC requirements, but it must not use this as an excuse to do the bare minimum.

As a long time campaigner against the use of Mosquito devices in Scotland, this is the first issue that comes to my mind. These devices are used to disperse young people by emitting a high pitched frequency — and they remain unregulated, and legal within this country. However, the devices are a clear violation of Article 2,3 15, 19 and 31 of the UNCRC.

Moreover, Article 14 entitles young people to be of any or no religion — yet schools up and down the country still force pupils to participate in religious observance — on an opt out basis that hands the decision to parents. This doesn’t match the spirit of the convention either.

That there are outstanding issues to be addressed has already been recognised by the UN committee on the rights of the child, which last reported on the state of children’s rights in the UK, including Scotland, in December 2020.

And this goes beyond the laws and legislation that we have in place.

The government must look to act in the best interests of Children and Young People, following a human rights-based approach. But that approach appears to have been absent as the Scottish Government have issued cuts to local authorities that have directly impacted on the ability of young people to realise their rights.

Children are waiting excessive amounts of time for access to mental health services, which doesn’t chime well with Article 6 — that government’s must do all they can to support children to develop to their full potential.

Neither is the fact that in this country we detain children in adult prisons and Young Offenders Institutes and subject them to restrictive practices in line with Article 40 of the Convention that we have just voted into law.

In fact, as this bill was beginning its journey through the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government was pursuing a minimum age of criminal responsibility that fell short of the age recommended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

These are just some of the issues that are going to arise over the coming months as the Scottish Government has to follow through on its commitment to incorporation, it now has a duty to ensure that Scotland is truly compliant. It is vital that there is pressure on the Scottish Government to actively rectify these inconsistencies, and children’s rights organisations must hold it to account to ensure that this happens.

There is still plenty of work to be done to ensure that Scotland truly is UNCRC complaint, and that children across the country are able to benefit from the rights that they have fought so hard for.