BHRC was pleased to take part in a virtual conference on 21 June 2020, hosted by the Media and Law Studies Association and PEN International, regarding Nedim Türfent, a Kurdish journalist who has now been imprisoned for 1,500 days on ‘freedom of expression’ charges. The conference highlighted the continuing dire situation for journalists in Turkey,...
The Bar Council and the Bar Human Rights Committee have written to the Polish President and Prime Minister, and Marshals of the Senate and Sejm ahead of a scheduled hearing of a motion filed by the National Prosecution Office to the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court to waive the immunity of Judge Igor Tuleya. On 8...
Protests in Indianapolis, IN, USA.Photo by Hybrid on Unsplash BHRC expresses condemnation at the excessive use of force deployed by State law enforcement officers in the United States in response to mass protests taking place across the country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers on 25 May 2020....
The Bar Human Rights Committee has joined a coalition of ten legal organisations in a joint letter to the President of Turkey expressing concern about criminal investigations launched in Turkey against the Ankara Bar Association and the Diyarbakir Bar Association for “openly disrespect the religious belief of a group” (article 126(3) of the Penal...
The Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) expresses grave concern about the draft national security legislation that is set to be imposed on Hong Kong following the anticipated passage of the draft decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security (“the...
BHRC has published its observations in full of the “Gezi Park” trial of sixteen leading civil society individuals in Turkey, including Open Society Foundation Board member Osman Kavala. BHRC has closely monitored the trial over several months since June 2019, which ostensibly ended with the acquittal of Mr Kavala and eight other defendants in February 2020....
The international legal community is seriously concerned by the arrest of 15 veteran pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong on Saturday 18 April 2020. In what appears to be a further clampdown on civil liberties and democracy following the 2019 protests, which began over the introduction of a controversial extradition bill, those arrested today include senior...
BHRC is seeking an energetic and experienced administrator to support the Project Coordinator in delivering and facilitating the varied and expanding work of the organisation and its membership. We are looking for someone who is proactive and efficient with an eye for detail, who has experience working with smaller organisations. The primary responsibilities would be...
On 1 April 2020, BHRC and the Bar Council wrote to the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, expressing grave concern regarding the introduction of legislation on Monday 30 March granting sweeping emergency powers to the Hungarian executive as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The State Secretary for Cooperation in European and...
BHRC has issued a public statement expressing serious concern that draft legislation in Turkey, which aims to prevent the spread of COVID-19 across prisons and detention centres, contains a blanket exclusion of political prisoners. These include thousands of civil servants, lawyers, politicians, activists, and journalists whom Turkey has detained, prosecuted and convicted in the period since...
The Bar Human Rights Committee is the independent,
international human rights arm of the Bar of England
and Wales, dedicated to promoting justice and respect
for human rights through the rule of law.