FAQs

BIHR provides information and training on human rights law in the UK. We work with individuals, communities and public bodies every day to help them put our Human Rights Act into practice and improve outcomes for people accessing services. We also amplify the voices of the people we work with through our policy work, ensuring the real stories of how our Human Rights Act is being used across the UK reach the people with the power to change laws and systems.

• Find out more about how we enable social change
• Find out more about our strategic focus and theory of change
• Find out more about who we support and where

BIHR does not offer legal casework, advice or represent clients. We are focused on working on the ground to build capacity of communities and public services to the challenge and prevent human rights abuses in everyday life. BIHR focuses on human rights in the UK and so is not able to comment on international issues.

• Find out more about how we enable social change

If you or someone you know is facing a human rights issue, you can find a list of organisations that may be able to support you on our help page.

Our work with public bodies shows us that staff want to achieve the best possible outcomes for the people they support - but are often facing tough decisions, tight time and budgetary constraints and a complex max of laws and regulations. 

Our Human Rights Act provides a legal framework that requires them to uphold human rights whenever possible. By equipping staff with the knowledge, confidence and legal framework they need to back up rights-respecting decisions, we can help give them the courage to balance risks with rights and achieve better outcomes for people accessing services.

We mean human rights as set out in the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), which brings right from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law. As well as setting out the rights, the HRA is also our law which sets out the duties on those with public power to uphold people’s those rights. This is the enforceable legal framework in the UK and allows us to address human rights issues directly. The HRA is about human rights for everyone in everyday life, including in economic and social areas such as housing and healthcare, as well as civil and political areas such as criminal justice.

Find out more about what we mean by human rights

At BIHR we believe that human rights are everyone's rights, they are not merely legal issues to be addressed in courts. Human rights are essential to our everyday lives, empowering each of us to call for prevention and to challenge and change decisions and systems before problems escalate. The Human Rights Act (HRA) is a vital tool that enables people to assert their rights proactively, ensuring that they can address potential violations and advocate for justice within their communities, rather than waiting until violations need redress through court action.

Find out more about how we enable social change