The Scottish Human Rights Commission, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, released a joint statement on the importance of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). 

In 2025, 27 out of the 46 Council of Europe member states, including the UK, asserted the need to ‘re-balance’ and ‘clarify’ individual rights and state responsibilities in relation to migration. 

As the independent National Human Rights Institutions for the United Kingdom, the Commissions urge the UK Government to commit to no reduction in rights protections. The principle of universality is fundamental to human rights: rights that can be removed from some people are no longer rights for everyone. 

Read the full joint statement