Care policy makers

Policy decisions impacting upon care and support services must take into account both the Human Rights Act and Scotland Act obligations, both in their conception and drafting, as well as in their subsequent practical implementation and the possible human rights impacts they may have.

This means policy makers require an awareness of the human rights standards as set out in the Key Rights Explained and Other international rights of importance sections of this website. There is a need to bear in mind the thresholds, or floor, of protection put in place by human rights, in particular the absolute right not to be subject to inhuman or degrading treatment set out in Article 3, as well as the balance to be struck between the individual right (such as the qualified right to a private, home and family life under Article 8) and a recognised public interest or the rights of others.

Also, as explained in these materials, a human rights based approach fundamentally requires the genuine participation of “rights holders” in decision making. This means a high degree of meaningful participation, including from communities, civil society, minorities, and other groups, particularly those who may be vulnerable or marginalised. The participation should be both meaningful and constructive and all information about proposals should be easily accessible to affected individuals who should be supported as necessary to participate.

Policy makers may wish to consider developing a Human Rights Impact Assessment methodology as a tool to assist integrating human rights into decision making. Human Rights Impact Assessments are one of the key ways in which human rights and a culture of human rights can be systematically embedded into the policies, practices, procedures and priorities of government, public and private bodies.

Policy makers may also wish to develop human rights based indicators for the regulation of care services as objective measures of the extent to which services adopt and ensure a human rights based approach.