MINISTERS have warned they will do everything within their power to block Tory plans to scrap key human rights legislation.
Legal Affairs Minister Roseanna Cunningham said the Scottish Government is "strongly opposed" to the proposals, which would see the Conservatives remove the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.
The party said it will withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the UK Parliament fails to secure the right to veto judgments. Ms Cunningham warned the moves would have serious consequences at both home and abroad and called on the Scottish Parliament to reject the plan.
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael also claimed Scotland could remain a signatory to the convention, even if the Tories followed through on their plan.
Ms Cunningham said: "The Scottish Government is strongly opposed to any attempt by a future UK Government to repeal the Human Rights Act or to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.
"To do so would require the consent of the Scottish Parliament and, given our long-standing opposition, we would invite the Scottish Parliament to refuse this.
"The safeguards in the act have been actively used to protect the everyday rights of ordinary people in Scotland, in particular helping some of the most vulnerable in society to challenge policies like the bedroom tax. Human rights protections are central to the law of Scotland."
David Cameron set out his party's plans on Wednesday, attracting fierce criticism from opposing politicians and human rights campaigners. The Conservatives claim the moves would give UK courts and Parliament the "final say" and prevent a "legal blank cheque to take human rights into areas where they have never applied".
But Dominic Grieve, former Conservative Attorney General said yesterday UK Justice Secretary Chris Grayling did not seem to have considered the problems presented by devolution in Scotland and the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
He said: "Both of them enshrine the requirement that the convention on human rights should be observed in Scotland and in Northern Ireland," he said.
"I think it is right to say that, in the case of Northern Ireland, it is a requirement that ultimately people in NI can take cases to the ECHR. And yet Chris Grayling has just written a paper which makes no reference to this issue or how it can be solved.
"Of course the Westminster parliament is sovereign, we could change the law for Northern Ireland and Scotland. But I think that, in view of the way devolution has unfolded, that is something that would be a little bit difficult without consultation."
The Scottish Human Rights Commission also hit out at the proposals, warning they would risk diminishing the rights of everyone in the UK. Chairman, Professor Alan Miller, said: "Playing party politics with human rights is irresponsible.
"Human rights laws often benefit us in ways we do not always realise.
"Here in the UK, they have been used to expose fatal failures in hospitals and care homes and to challenge the unfair impact of the bedroom tax.
"From protecting soldiers serving in battle to challenging prison conditions that have no place in a decent society, the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights provide a safety net for everyone."
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