DOMINIC RAAB’S shake-up of human rights laws is “harmful and unwelcome,” the Scottish government said at the weekend. 

In a searing attack on the Justice Secretary’s plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a new Bill of rights, Holyrood warned that the proposals would also interfere with Scotland’s constitution. 

The new legislation, which is due to receive its first reading in Parliament on September 12, seeks to reduce the influence of the European Courts of Human Rights in domestic courts. 

Human rights groups have described the overhaul as a “power grab” and an attempt by the government to make itself “untouchable.”

Responding to a call for evidence from Westminister’s joint committee on human rights, Scotland’s Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie warned that the plans would do “serious harm to fundamental freedoms in Britain. 

“The Scottish government has repeatedly said that there must be no changes to the Human Rights Act that undermine or weaken existing human rights protections,” said. 

“The UK does not need a new ‘Bill of rights.’ That role is already very successfully performed by the Human Rights Act, which has a 20-year track record of delivering justice, including for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

She added: “The Bill of Rights Bill is ill conceived and unwelcome. Some of the provisions are confusing and contradictory.

“It interferes with the constitutional settlement in Scotland by legislating for devolved matters, undermining the Scottish Parliament and Scotland’s devolution settlement.

“The Scottish government remains committed to protecting the Human Rights Act in its current form.”

A spokesman for the British government asserted that the proposals would strengthen human rights and “inject a healthy dose of common sense to curb the abuse of human rights.”