Introduction and Context

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Scotland Act 2024 incorporates children’s rights into Scots law and places duties on Scottish public authorities to respect, protect, and fulfil those rights in the exercise of their functions. Section 6 of the Act establishes a compatibility duty requiring public authorities not to act against the UNCRC requirements when exercising relevant functions. This means that where a public authority has acted, or proposed to act, in a way which is incompatible to the UNCRC requirements, a court may find it has acted unlawfully.

It also introduces a statutory reporting framework in Section 18, designed to promote transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in the implementation of children’s rights across Scotland. Public authorities are therefore required not only to demonstrate current compliance with the Act, but also to evidence future-thinking and how they are advancing children’s rights within their policies, services, and decision-making processes. These reporting cycles run through three-year stints, the current period beginning 16 July 2024 and ending 31 March 2026.