A UK-wide charity making positive change through human rights

As we come to the end of our 2022–2025 Community Programme, we reflect on the importance of human rights-based approaches in community work and the real-life impact this can have.

We worked with Partners in Care & Health to create a programme and written resource to support practitioners working with young autistic people and young people with a learning disability.

We caught up with our Senior Human Right Officer Annie, who is also a registered social worker, to talk about social work, human rights and her advice to others on embedding human rights in practice.

Read about the Mental Health Bill and what it means for human rights in the UK in our plain-language and Easy Read explainers.

On 10th December 2024, we celebrated Human Rights Day with an event in the House of Lords, an open letter to the Prime Minister and the launch of four new human rights resources for community groups.

Read about the impact of our co-designed human rights support solutions that we created with four community and voluntary groups to address social justice issues using human rights.

With an increased number of services that were once delivered by traditional public bodies now being contracted out to private organisations, this page looks at who has a legal duty to protect human rights and how to better protect human rights in practice.

Read our response to the Home Affairs Committee's inquiry on asylum accommodation, drawing on our work with community groups in the asylum sector.

Read our response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights' call for evidence on the Mental Health Bill introduced to Parliament in November 2024.

Read all about our three-year community programme funded by The Baring Foundation and the human rights support solutions we've co-produced with groups from across the UK.

Enquire about BIHR's new 3-part capacity-building programme for Spring 2025 which seeks to build strong foundational knowledge of the Human Rights Act to support the rights-respecting application of mental health law, now and in the future.

Read our plain-language briefing on key human rights and previous case law related to assisted dying.

Join Senior Human Rights Officer Annie on her visit to the Bomoko NI offices to test out the first draft of our co-designed human rights support solution for women seeking asylum and refuge.

Read our blog on the impact of human rights advocacy, written for Advocacy Awareness Week 2024.

Read about our online event, hosted together with our RITES Committee Lived Experience Experts to celebrate the Committee's two-year anniversary.

Read about BIHR's submission to the UK Civil Society Shadow Report to the United Nations on the UK's implementation of ICSECR.

Read our response to EHRC's consultation on its draft strategic plan for 2025 - 2028.

Steps we can all take every day to champion a human rights culture across the UK. 

Read our response to the Department of Health and Social Care's consultation on changing regulations to introduce a requirement to report on use of restraint in mental health units within 72 hours.

"we now need commitment to setting a positive agenda for respecting, protecting and fulfilling people's human rights at the highest levels right through to our communities."

Lived Experience Expert Charli shares her perspective on the right to free elections, drawing on her experiences having lived as an in-patient in a children’s mental health service.

Read about what the Elections Act 2022 does, what it means for human rights in the UK and steps you can take to access your right to vote.

This blog sets out how Article 2 Protocol 1 of the Human Rights Act (the right to education) can interact with the provision of school transport.

Read about the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act and our human rights concerns.

Read about interim measures from the European Court of Human Rights and how they apply in the UK.

Read our response to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities' consultation on proposed changes to the social housing allocation system.

"The path of carving out exceptions to human rights protections here in the UK is nothing to celebrate, and has a destination which should scare us all."

Read about BIHR's evidence to the United Nations as part of the eighth periodic review of the UK's implementation of this international human rights law.

Keysha is a corporate paralegal with a BA Hons in Law, currently studying for her MSc in Human Rights at the University of London. She looks at the ways the Human Rights Act has supported her.

Read about our work with the Housing Ombudsman Service.

Read about our research into Do Not Resuscitate notices and the experiences of people with learning disabilities, commissioned by the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman.

What is the European Convention on Human Rights? What does it mean for the UK? Find out about the ECHR and how it protects all our human rights in our plain-language and Easy Read explainers.

This blog sets out how The Human Rights Act (HRA) can be used as an invaluable tool to ensure accountability at every level and get the best outcomes for people who use the service.

Our one-minute video gives a brief overview of the requirement for public bodies to take active steps to respect, protect and fulfil human rights for everyone in the UK.

Find out how you can get involved in the new programme from BIHR and Just Fair as we work with London communities to use human rights-based approaches to social justice issues.

What does the UK Government's "Safety of Rwanda Bill" mean for human rights in the UK? 

Our theme for Human Rights Day 2023 was small places close to home as we celebrated the everyday impact of the Human Rights Act, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We're thrilled to have won the Best Supporter Award for 2023, having been nominated by three community groups we've worked with.

Read our letter response to the Scottish Government's consultation on a Human Rights Bill for Scotland.

A section-by-section guide to the ECHR.

Our plain-language explainer highlights some of the key differences between the Council of Europe and the European Union from the perspective of rights protections.

People seeking asylum argued that sending them to Rwanda to have their cases heard risked breaching their right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment.

Hear from members of our RITES Committee on why it's so important that human rights apply to everyone equally.

Read our response to the Department of Health and Social Care's consultation on changing regulations on visiting rights in hospitals, care homes and hospices.

In this blog, we celebrate the great news that the UK Government is not proceeding with the Rights Removal Bill and look ahead to the work still to be done to protect human rights in the UK.

Read our CEO's statement following the announcement from Justice Secretary Alex Chalk that the UK Government will not proceed with the Rights Removal Bill.

Read about our parliamentary event to mark one year of our RITES Committee - a coalition of lived experience experts advocating for the Human Rights Act.

Find out why the European Convention on Human Rights is described as a "living instrument" and what the margin of appreciation means for individual countries.

Read our recap of the Second Reading of the Refugee Ban Bill in the House of Lords, focusing on issues raised around human rights, international obligations and rule of law.

Find out where the Magna Carta comes from, what it does and which clauses are still law today.

Find out about Dominic Raab's replacement and what this could mean for the Rights Removal Bill and human rights protections in the UK.

This blog looks at some of the ways these Bills attempt to limit government accountability and roll back on our legally protected rights.

With 40+ other civil society organisations from across the UK, we wrote to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on our concerns with recent laws weakening Section 3.

Gary Bourlet, Membership and Engagement Lead at Learning Disability England, tells us Why Our Human Rights Act Matters in this Easy Read blog.

Read about our concerns with the UK Government's "Illegal Migration Bill" and how it impacts people's human rights.

Read about our work with Council of Europe on our concerns with the UK Government's changes to human rights.

Read our recap of the Second Reading of the Home Secretary's Anti-Refugee Bill in which MPs voted that the Anti-Refugee Bill should proceed to the next stage.

Learn about who we are, what we do and how we promote practical use of the UK's Human Rights Act.

Find out about the Human Rights Act 1998 and how it applies across the UK.

Find out how you can support our work to promote and protect human rights across the UK.

Find out about the 16 rights protected by our Human Rights Act.