As Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, I am delighted to share the launch of our new blog on the BHRC website, ‘BHRC In Brief’, which will feature a series of original, practice-oriented articles and legal analysis from BHRC’s Executive, Advisory Board, Members and Partners.
Throughout its 32-year history, BHRC has sought to give barristers, academics, civil society changemakers and students valuable opportunities to contribute to human rights discourse and advocacy, always focused on jurisdictions outside of the United Kingdom in keeping with BHRC’s international remit and our need to safeguard our independence.
BHRC is incredibly proud of its membership, which consists of practising or non-practising members of the Bar of England and Wales and law students (including trainees and pupils). Therefore, BHRC In Brief will be a forum for diverse, constructive and informative knowledge sharing, giving voice and visibility to our members’ experiences of working with international human rights in their professional practice and practical advice to other members of the Bar undertaking international human rights work.
We invite contributions from all our members who wish to join the conversation and lend their voices to advancing knowledge and understanding of international human rights advocacy and practice at the Bar. We especially welcome contributions that align with one or more of the four key and ongoing objectives of BHRC reflecting its strategic priorities and key areas of work:
Upholding the rule of law and internationally recognised human rights norms and standards, with particular focus on the right to peaceful protest, which has come under acute strain, and on atrocity crimes;
Protecting and supporting practising lawyers, judges, and human rights defenders, with particular focus on the shrinking space for civil society;
Promoting knowledge and interest in human rights law and practice through training programmes, workshops and events; and
Supporting and collaborating with other organisations and individuals working for the promotion and protection of human rights and the rule of law, through creative and persistent use of technology, outreach, and partnerships.
Full submission guidelines are detailed below.
This is an important initiative and I look forward to reading about the inspiring work of the BHRC community in the promotion and protection of human rights and rule of law around the world.
Michael Ivers KC
Chair
Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales
Submission Guidelines
We welcome submissions of up to 1000 words from members of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales. We may, from time to time and at our discretion, invite guest contributions from individuals outside of the Executive Committee, Advisory Board or membership of the BHRC.
Contributions should be submitted by email to coordination@barhumanrights.org.uk, with ‘Blog Contribution’ and the contributing member name/s clearly stated in the subject line. Please also submit a brief biography (no more than 150 words) and a high-resolution headshot to accompany your submission.
Please ensure that your submission is original and does not infringe the copyright of any third party or is appropriately credited with citations formatted to OSCOLA standard. BHRC reserves the right to decline to publish a contribution for any reason and will not enter into correspondence about contributions that have been declined as the decision of BHRC is final.
Questions? Please email Dr Louise Loder at the above email address.
