UNITED KINGDOM-SOGI-TBs-CCPR

Country: United Kingdom

Issue: SOGI

Human rights mechanism: Treaty bodies

Treaty body: Human Rights Committee - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

Concluding Observations on Report 8 (2024) (Link)

National human rights institutions

8. The Committee welcomes the A status reaccreditation of the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in June 2021 and October 2023, respectively, by the Subcommittee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. It is concerned, however, about allegations questioning the ability of the Equality and Human Rights Commission of Great Britain to conduct its mandate independently, particularly in relation to positions the Commission has allegedly taken on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex issues, leading the Subcommittee on Accreditation to initiate a special review of the Commission in 2024 (art. 2).

9. The State party should continue its efforts, including by implementing the recommendations of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, to ensure that its national human rights institutions fully comply with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and are able to carry out their mandates effectively and independently, including by ensuring that they have the human, financial and technical resources necessary to perform their tasks effectively and by aligning its positions on issues related to human rights with international standards.

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Hate crimes

16. While welcoming the efforts of the State party to address hate crimes, the Committee is concerned about the continued widespread increase in hate crimes, particularly with respect to race, religion, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, especially in England and Wales, where hate crimes against transgender individuals were reportedly at a record high. Furthermore, while noting the recent increase in the recording of hate crimes, the Committee is concerned by reports indicating that hate crimes continue to be significantly underreported owing to the lack of trust in the police forces (arts. 2 and 20).

17. The State party should intensify its efforts to combat hate crimes and, in particular:

(a) Take steps to establish a clear and comprehensive legal framework to ensure that the prohibition of hate crimes applies to all protected groups, including by implementing the recommendations of the Law Commission’s 2021 final report on hate crime laws in England and Wales and by taking effective steps to promptly enhance hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland;

(b) Encourage the reporting of hate crimes and provide effective training to law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors on addressing and investigating hate crimes;

(c) Investigate hate crimes thoroughly, ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions, and provide victims and their families with access to full reparations.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

18. While welcoming the information provided by the State party that it intends to introduce legislation in England and Wales that will ban the use of so-called conversion therapy against lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, the Committee is concerned about reports that conversion therapy is considered a protected religious practice in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, it is concerned that, under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, a psychiatric diagnosis and other intrusive and cumbersome requirements, such as living in the person’s affirmed gender for two years, are preconditions for legal gender recognition. In that regard, the Committee regrets that the State party has no intention of reforming the Act (arts. 7, 16, 17 and 26).

19. The State party should continue its efforts and adopt the measures necessary to prohibit the practice of so-called conversion therapy against lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, including in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, it should take legislative and other measures to eliminate intrusive requirements for legal gender recognition, including psychiatric diagnosis, and provide for and effectively implement a quick, transparent and accessible procedure for legal gender recognition that is compatible with the provisions of the Covenant.

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Conditions of detention

34. While welcoming the efforts of the State party to improve conditions of detention and the mental health of persons in detention, including through the publication in 2021 of the Prisons Strategy White Paper in England and Wales, the Committee is concerned […] about the use of segregation and about the use of solitary confinement, restraints and strip searches in young offenders’ institutions in Scotland…

35. The State party should intensify its efforts to ensure that conditions of detention fully comply with relevant international human rights standards, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules). In particular, the State party should:

…(c) Ensure that body search procedures are strictly supervised and that invasive searches are conducted only in exceptional cases and in the least intrusive manner possible, with full respect for the dignity and gender identity of the individual concerned…

Concluding Observations on Report 7 (2015) (Link)

3. The Committee welcomes the following legislative and institutional steps taken by the State party:

UNITED KINGDOM-SOGI-TBs-CCPR

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