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 Council and the Bar Human Rights Committee have written 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 letter notes the absence of a time limit...
BHRC welcomes and supports the statement issued today by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet, calling on governments to “take urgent action to protect the health and safety of people in detention and other closed facilities” as part of efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms Bachelet also called on governments to...
In these unprecedented times, the health and safety of our staff, members and partners remains our primary concern. It is with a heavy heart that BHRC has taken the difficult decision to suspend all trial monitoring, training and events until the end of June 2020 at the earliest, and subject to monthly review. As a...
BHRC has joined the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), MENA Rights Group, and 37 organisations from around the world, to issue a statement calling on governments in the Middle East and North Africa to take a number of urgent measures to protect their prison populations, and in doing so, their populations as...
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, on the worsening rule of law crisis in the country. In particular they address their serious concerns as to the motion filed by the National Prosecution Office to the Disciplinary Chamber of the...
The undersigned bar associations and organizations, concerned with the rule of law and the independence of the legal profession, register their concern over the continued suspension of Ms Fatma Karume, a former president of the Tanganyika Law Society and a current senior partner at the law firm, IMMMA Advocates in Tanzania. On September 20, 2019,...
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.