Rights of a child should be Scots law

SNP Conference today confirmed its commitment to Human Rights as conference called for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to be implemented into Scots law.

SNP Conference unanimously agreed to a resolution from Jamie Hepburn MSP and Aileen Campbell MSP that "the principles of the UDHR should serve as inspiration for any founding declaration, bill of rights or constitution adopted by an independent Scotland." before supporting calls from Central Scotland MSP Christina McKelvie for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to be implemented into Scots Law.

The UK Government recently agreed to complete ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child but has yet to indicate if it will put it into law.

In his speech to the conference, Jamie Hepburn, who is Convenor of the Cross-Party Group on Human Rights, said:

"The significance of Civil Liberties and broader concepts of Human Rights are all too often maligned and downplayed, but I can think of little more important to the human experience than the rights and freedoms that we all too often take for granted.

"Our vision of an independent Scotland is to stand up to these abuses of human rights and to be a beacon for justice.

"We look forward to the day, in the not too distant future, when Scotland takes its seat at the UN and can become a signatory to the declaration of Human Rights."

Ms McKelvie who moved the resolution calling on the Scottish Government to investigate ways to incorporate the Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots Law and welcomed the UK Government's signing of the Convention seventeen years after ratification said:

"I want to ensure that the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are incorporated into Scots domestic law.

"This could be achieved in a variety of ways, through a Children's Rights Bill or an amendment to the Children's Act.

"The means are not important. The priority of the SNP must be the health and well being of all children living in Scotland.

Ms McKelvie's motion received unanimous support.