Scotland has been a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities since 2009.  This means the Scottish Government has explicit duties to promote, protect and ensure the human rights of disabled people. Although the Convention does not form part of Scotland's domestic law directly, it can be used to help interpret the rights that are contained in the Human Rights Act 1998.

Known as CRPD, the Convention makes clear that disabled people have the same rights as non-disabled people, but are often disabled by the barriers they face in society.  The Convention sets out what should be done to break down the barriers that prevent disabled people from realising all of their human rights.