Glossary

Advocacy - Advocacy is the name given to the process of supporting children and young people to speak up, express their views and defend their rights.

Best interests - Best interests, as detailed in UNCRC Article 3, mean that adults need to assess what is best for a child’s wellbeing, growth and development, and then make it a primary consideration in the decision they are making about the child.

The ‘best interests’ of the child, as defined by Article 3 of the UNCRC and further elaborated by the UN Committee’s General Comment No. 14, is a guiding principle that requires all actions concerning children to prioritise their optimal development and wellbeing. It requires a holistic assessment of each child’s unique circumstances, considering factors such as their views, identity, family environment, and needs for care and protection, ensuring that decisions are tailored to support their rights and development comprehensively.

Child - Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this is defined as a person under 18 years of age.

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland - The Commissioner’s powers are set out in the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2003, as modified by the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Before the 2014 Act came into force, the Commissioner could only use their power of investigation to investigate cases involving the human rights of groups of children and young people. The Act changed this to allow the Commissioner to investigate cases affecting the human rights of an individual child or young person.

Child Rights Impact Assessment - A Child Rights Impact Assessment is a tool to assess how a proposed law, policy or budgetary allocation and related decisions will impact the realisation of children’s rights. Scottish Government has a similar version of this called Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments.

Child Rights Impact Evaluation - A Child Rights Impact Evaluation (CRIE) is a process that analyses and assesses how a law, policy or budgetary allocation and related decisions has impacted on the realisation of children’s rights. The purpose of a CRIE is to determine whether a previously conducted CRIA sufficiently and accurately identified, understood, and addressed the potential and actual impacts on children’s rights. CRIE are crucial for ensuring that CRIA are not only theoretically sound but also practically effective in improving children’s experiences of their rights, and support a cycle of continuous improvement in policy and decision-making processes.

Children's rights - Children’s rights are special human rights that ensure the survival, protection, and development of all children and young people under the age of 18. Enshrined in the UNCRC, these rights guarantee that every child is healthy, happy, and safe. They provide children with essentials like education and healthcare, safeguard them from harm, and ensure they can participate in decisions affecting their lives.

Children's human rights approach - A children’s human rights approach is a framework for working with infants, children and young people which translates the principles of the UNCRC into practical actions, steps and solutions.

Duty bearers - A duty bearer is a person (including a body of persons corporate or unincorporate) that has a duty under a law.

Duty bearers under the UNCRC are ‘States Parties’, countries or states that have signed and ratified the Convention.

Duty bearers under the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 are public authorities as defined in the Act and include those carrying out public functions. While the Convention refers to responsibilities and duties of “States Parties”, such references in the UNCRC requirements in the schedule to the Act are to be read as including public authorities (which includes those carrying out public functions).

Equality - Equality is all people having equal opportunities and being treated fairly.

The UK the Equality Act 2010 sets out nine ‘protected characteristics’ which are protected by this law; age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

It is unlawful to discriminate against someone (treat them less favourably) because of their protected characteristic/s. This includes direct and indirect discrimination.

Human dignity - A value owed to all humans, to be treated with respect.

Every child and young person, just like every adult, has inner dignity and worth that should be valued, respected and nurtured. Respecting children’s dignity means that all children should be treated with care and respect in all circumstances, including in schools, hospitals, police stations, public spaces and children’s homes.

Human Rights Act 1998 - This Act brings 16 rights from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law. It ensures that these rights can be enforced in UK courts.

It makes it unlawful for public bodies to act in a way that is incompatible with a ECHR right.

Human Rights Defender - People who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner.

Implementation - The process by which countries give effect to the rules and regulations in a treaty that they have ratified, or agreed to adopt and abide by. To make international treaty rights real, countries must take action on a national level, and this is called implementation of treaty rights. The UN treaty bodies often say that incorporation is the first step toward implementation.

Implementation can also include making changes to how existing laws and administrative and legal processes work, to ensure they uphold the rights given to people by the international treaty.

Incorporation - Incorporation is a way of putting international human rights law into the domestic law of a country.

Non-discrimination - All children and young people should feel healthy, happy and safe, no matter who they are, where they live, what they look like, or what their lives are like.

Non-discrimination is set out in Article 2 of the UNCRC. Every child and young person should be treated fairly and protected from discrimination, irrespective of their (or their parent’s or carer’s) race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth, or other status.

Non-discrimination doesn’t mean being treated identically; some children and young people need more support than others to overcome barriers and difficulties.

Public authority in the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 - “Public authorities” in the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 covers both “core” public authorities and “hybrid” public authorities. It also includes the Scottish Ministers, a court or tribunal and any person certain of whose functions are functions of a public nature.

“Core” public authorities carry out functions that are clearly of a public nature (such as social care, housing, health, and education, all of which are publicly funded). For these authorities there is no need to distinguish between private and public functions, as all of their functions are considered to be of a public nature. Many of these are also Listed Authorities under section 19 of the Act, such as local authorities, government departments, the police and health authorities.

“Hybrid” public authorities are those that carry out a mixture of public and private functions. This may include bodies from the private, voluntary and independent sector. They will only fall within the scope of the Act in relation to their functions that are of a public nature. “Hybrid” public authorities who carry out a mixture of public and private functions will need to assess when and how the duty applies to their functions.

For the purposes of subsection (5)(a)(iii) of the UNCRC Act, “functions of a public nature” includes, in particular, functions carried out under a contract or other arrangement with a public authority. It will ultimately be for the court to determine whether or not a function is ‘public’.

Please note that the definition of ‘public authority’ per the Act itself may potentially be subject to consideration by the courts over time, and that developing jurisprudence (i.e. case law) may mean this supportive information about the definition may need to be adjusted in line with that.

Respect, protect and fulfil - International human rights law says that when States become parties to international treaties, such as the UNCRC, they take on obligations and duties to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.

The obligation to respect means that States must not restrict or reduce human rights.

The obligation to protect means that States must protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses.

The obligation to fulfil means that States must take positive action to ensure that rights-holders can enjoy their human rights.

Rights at risk - Those with rights at risk refers to groups of people (in this case particularly children and young people) that have experiences, circumstances, identities and beliefs that mean there may be an increased likelihood of their rights not being fulfilled.

Children and young people whose rights are at risk could include migrant, refugee and asylum seeking children and young people; neurodivergent children and young people; children and young people experiencing poverty; care experienced children and young people; disabled children and young people; children and young people affected by parental imprisonment, children and young people in conflict with the law; children and young people receiving hospital treatment or long term care; young carers; children and young people affected by homelessness; infants; children and young people affected by substance misuse; armed forces families; and many other groups. This is a not an exhaustive list, and it is important to remember that children and young people have intersectional identities and experiences.

Rights-holders - Every child under the age of 18 is a rights-holder under the UNCRC. This means they have specific rights and protections in the UNCRC which public authorities have to respect, protect, and fulfil.

Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) - SHRC is an independent public body with a general duty to promote awareness, understanding and respect for all human rights in Scotland.

Treaty - A treaty is an agreement between two or more countries to solve an issue that affects the parties signing the treaty.

UN Committee - The Committee on the Rights of the Child, often referred to as just ‘the UN Committee’, is the body of 18 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by states parties. It also monitors implementation of the Optional Protocols to the Convention, on involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and considers complaints made by children under the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) - The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is an important document that lists all the different rights that children and young people have. The rights are called articles.

The UNCRC includes 54 articles, each outlining specific commitments and provisions. 42 are recognised as ‘substantive rights’ — specific rights that children and young people are entitled to, covering aspects such as health, education, and protection from

harm. The remaining 12 articles relate to other aspects of the UNCRC’s implementation, such as guidelines for reporting and interpretation, making them procedural rather than substantive in nature.

UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 - The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 is legislation that incorporates the UNCRC into Scots law.

Values - Principles or ideals that someone holds which guide their decisions, actions and beliefs. “Values are principles, fundamental convictions, ideals, standards or life stances which act as general guides to behaviour or as points of reference in decision making or the evaluation of beliefs or actions and which are closely connected to personal integrity and personal identity.” J.M. Halstead (1996) ‘Values and Values Education in Schools’, p.5.

This is a Scottish Government-funded project. This webpage, and the linked resources within it have not been produced by the Scottish Government and so the Scottish Government cannot guarantee their quality or accuracy. Nothing on this webpage and in its linked resources is intended to constitute legal advice. Readers should seek their own independent legal advice with respect to any legal matter.