As I sit in my office in Glasgow, I’m surrounded by the background thrum of my organisation’s human rights lawyers, caseworkers and other staff beavering away. Running helplines. Meeting clients. Filing documents. Preparing for court. Talking to partner organisations. Sending evidence into parliament and government. Drinking lots of coffee! These are the day-to-day sounds of using the law to defend and extend people’s rights. Contemplating the challenges we face, I wonder to myself, what would the world leaders who signed that bold Declaration back in 1948 make of how people’s rights are faring in Scotland in 2022? They would surely be aghast at some parts of the picture. This has been the year of the Draconian and racist Nationality and Borders Act. The year of heartless and inhumane attempts by the UK Government to send people seeking refuge on a plane to Rwanda for “processing” – people who have often already escaped and survived torture and severe persecution. Another year where we’ve seen a complete disconnect between rhetorical commitments to tackling trafficking and exploitation, contrasted with policies and practices that prosecute rather than protect victims, and leave them vulnerable to further harm. It’s been another year of politicians trying to dismantle the Human Rights Act, a foundational piece of law that was introduced in 1998 to give better protection to everyone’s rights. It is no coincidence that having helped prevent those Rwanda flights from taking off, it is now at even greater risk from politicians whose plans have been thwarted. Accountability for upholding people’s rights sometimes has a bitter taste for those in power. What would our forebears from 1948 make of other developments? They might look at women’s rights in Scotland and see some progress overall, yet still a long way to go, for example to eradicate the pernicious, entrenched scourge of men’s violence against women and girls. They might see a country where disabled people’s rights are better recognised in theory – but where discrimination persists and barriers to equality remain firmly in place. And they would see a country where racism continues to permeate all parts of society, putting Black and minoritised people’s rights even further out of reach than most white people’s. These are just some examples from our work at JustRight Scotland, where the vision of universal human rights, equally enjoyed by all, is not being realised in Scotland. A human rights “report card” sent from Scotland to the United Nations this year details many more gaps. But it’s not all bad news. Progress can be seen in places, and that keeps us going. This year, Scotland showed what a humane, respectful route to refuge can look like in its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, proactively creating a ‘super sponsor scheme’ for people fleeing the war. Notwithstanding challenges around accommodation and support, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have found a safe, welcoming home in Scotland. We’ve seen positive developments in the courts, including a successful legal challenge to government policy on student support that will help level the playing field for young people from migrant backgrounds when it comes to accessing their right to education. And as we approach the end of the year, Scotland’s Parliament is considering the final stages of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. If passed, this will remove some barriers that trans people currently must overcome in order to have a birth certificate that reflects who they are. Trans people are a tiny and often deeply marginalised minority of the population. Enacting this Bill would go at least some way to enabling them to live their lives in peace, privacy, and with the dignity that we all deserve. On a bigger scale, the Scottish Government’s commitment to bringing a swathe of international human rights directly into Scotland’s law, remains a source of hope for a more progressive future for all our rights. This law could help give teeth to United Nations human rights treaties on disabled people’s rights, women’s rights and Black and racialised people’s rights. This new law would also make economic and social rights – like food, housing and social security – as well as the right to a healthy environment, more of an enforceable reality. That would undoubtedly please our predecessors from 1948, who made clear that all human rights are interlinked and indivisible. As we experience a cost-of-living crisis, and as the impact of climate change deepens, the need for these rights to be enshrined in law becomes even more visible to us all. Making rights a reality also means making sure that people can access justice when things go wrong. A myriad of barriers currently stands between people whose rights are breached, and effective remedies for those breaches. People have to fight their way through a complex, confusing set of complaints bodies, regulators and court processes. Legal aid is severely limited. This all takes its toll on people’s resilience, when they are already exhausted by the situation they are dealing with. This must be tackled as part of developing a new human rights law in Scotland, so that legal rights become more than words on paper. There have been delays this year in bringing forward detailed proposals for this ambitious new legislation, which has been disappointing to many of us on the human rights frontline. We hope to see tangible progress soon in 2023. Indeed, by the time International Human Rights Day rolls around next December, marking 75 years of the Universal Declaration, let’s hope the picture for everyone’s rights in Scotland looks much brighter overall. Emma Hutton is the chief executive of JustRight Scotland, a human rights legal charity based in Glasgow