Universal periodic review of human rights in the United Kingdom 2017: update on five thematic areas

Introduction

Following the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UK’s human rights record in Geneva in May 2017, the UN Human Rights Council issued a total of 227 recommendations,^[1] covering both reserved and devolved areas of policy.

On 8 December 2017, the Scottish Government published a response to the recommendations,^[2] providing more detail on action being taken in Scotland to fulfil international human rights obligations and how the Scottish Government intends to make substantive progress in areas highlighted by the review.

In its response^[3] to the UPR recommendations, the UK Government committed to preparing an update on up to five recommendations in 2018 and a mid-term report on all recommendations in 2019.

This update covers the following five thematic areas:

1. Domestic human rights framework, including the status of UN human rights treaties
2. Violence against women and girls
3. Tackling racial discrimination
4. Access to justice
5. Human trafficking and slavery