Aegis

The Aegis Trust is an independent international organisation launched in 2000 and devoted to taking practical action to prevent genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. The site includes reports of historic atrocities and current crises.

African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights was established by charter in 1986. This site contains details of the Commission’s history, members, mandate and Rules of Procedure. Documents available include the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; the Protocol for the establishment of an African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights; the Protocol on the Rights of Women; the Convention on the Rights of Refugees; and other resolutions, declarations, reports and ratifications.

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is a campaigning body for human rights worldwide. Its site includes reports on individual countries, searchable via an A-Z country index; campaign reports and thematic publications 1996 onwards; and annual reports 1998 onwards (with summaries for 1993-1997).

Bhatt Murphy Solicitors

Bhatt Murphy is a London based solicitors’ firm specialising in the protection of civil liberties. Its web site includes a number of timelines, setting out major events in a number of areas, with links to relevant legislation and case law. Subjects covered include: public law, police misconduct, prisoners’ rights, immigration detention and migrant rights, deaths in custody, European Court of Human Rights and public inquiries.

Committee on the Administration of Justice

The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) is an independent non-governmental organisation which campaigns for human rights and civil liberties in Northern Ireland. Publications available online include various key documents, annual reports, press releases, and a monthly newsletter Just News.

Council of Europe: Commissioner for Human Rights

The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Council of Europe, responsible for promoting human rights within member states. The first Commissioner began work in 1999, and the site has all documentation to date (including opinions, recommendations, reports, seminar papers and speeches).

Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Equality and Human Rights Commission was established on 1 October 2007 under the Equality Act 2006. It replaced the Equal Opportunities Commission, Commission for Racial Equality and Disability Rights Commission, taking over their existing responsibilities for racial, disability and sex discrimination and also taking on new responsibilities for aspects of equality relating to sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, and human rights. There is “Advice and Guidance” relating to current legislation and codes of practice. Other sections include “Our Legal Action” with information about the Commission’s legal and enforcement powers and its inquiries and investigations.

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: CPT Database

Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is the abbreviated name of the Council of Europe committee established by Article 1 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987). The HUDOC CPT Database accessible here includes all CPT reports and public statements, and the “standards” from the CPT’s annual general reports.

European Convention on Human Rights

The full text of the European Convention on Human Rights as amended by the Protocols, on the Council of Europe Treaty Office site. Other content includes Travaux Préparatoires to the convention and details of signatures, ratifications, reservations and declarations.

European Council on Refugees and Exiles

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) is a Brussels-based “pan-European alliance”, with more than 100 member organisations in over 40 countries, which works to protect and advance the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons. Policy and research papers are arranged by topic. The site also includes annual reports, weekly bulletins, news and press releases.

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), based in Strasbourg, was set up in 1959 under the European Convention on Human Rights. Information and documents relating to the history, composition and working of the Court include the HUDOC database of the case law of the Convention, the Court Rules, the text of the Convention and protocols, and dates of ratification. The HUDOC case law database covers the European Court of Human Rights, the defunct European Commission on Human Rights (1954-1998), and the Committee of Ministers. RSS feeds are available for ECHR news, webcasts and Information Notes.

European Observer on Fundamental Right’s Respect

The European Observer on Fundamental Right’s Respect is a joint project of the Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, the Interdepartmental Centre for Research in European Communities Law at the University of Bologna, and European Magistrates for Democracy and Freedoms. Its web site includes European legislation and case law relating to human rights, as well as national case law from the member states of the EU, judicial decisions from other jurisdictions, and other legislative documents. There is also a bimonthly newsletter available, January 2007 onwards.

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is an advisory body, established in 2007 to help protect human rights within the EU by collecting evidence about the status of fundamental rights and providing advice based on that evidence. Its web site includes information about its work, and a searchable full text of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The “Tools” section includes a database of case law abstracts with links to full text where available, as well as other databases, information sources, and guides to good practice. “Products” includes a wide variety of publications including reports, studies, and discussion papers, and recent annual reports. A register of official documents on the site can be found under “About FRA”.

Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation: Claims Resolution Tribunal

Official information website for the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT) of the Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation against Swiss banks and other Swiss entities. The CRT completed its work and closed its offices in 2012 but its web site remains accessible. Content includes the rules of the tribunal, court documents and details of awards made.

Honour Crimes Project

The Honour Crimes Project (2000-2005) was a project which aimed to co-ordinate an international approach to fighting ‘honour crimes’. It was jointly co-ordinated by CIMEL (Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) and INTERIGHTS (International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights). The site includes extensive external links to relevant international and national organisations. Documentation in the Materials and Resources section also includes materials relating to ‘crimes of honour’ that were not produced by the CIMEL/INTERIGHTS Project. Case summaries are available in the Bibliography section.

HUDOC

HUDOC is the official database of the case law of the European Convention on Human Rights. Content includes judgments, screening panel decisions and admissibility decisions of the European Court of Human Rights 1959 to date; public reports and admissibility decisions of the defunct European Commission on Human Rights complete from 1986 to 1999, with some earlier decisions; and resolutions of the Committee of Ministers 1959 to 2004. The HUDOC User Manual (downloadable via the Help tab) provides detailed information on database content and guidance on searching.

Human Rights Act 1998

The full text of the UK’s Human Rights Act Act 1998 on the Legislation.gov.uk site. There is an option to view either the original version as enacted or an updated version.

Human Rights Education Associates

Human Rights Education Associates is an international non-governmental organisation which supports human rights learning and training. The site contains a collection of subject-based study guides.

Human Rights First

Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) is an American advocacy organisation based in New York and Washington DC. The site includes details of their current work on asylum, refugees, and security detainees. Relevant US legislation is included along with press releases and details of current publications.

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an independent non-governmental organisation based in New York and concerned with defending human rights worldwide. The site contains news, commentaries and reports on human rights issues, arranged by topic and region. Also includes annual reports 1996 onwards, a news archive 1997 onwards and publications back to 1989 (arranged by relevant country or by date).

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights forms part of the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States. It was established in 1979 to enforce and interpret the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights, which entered into force in 1978. The site includes rules of procedure, decisions and judgments back to 1987, advisory opinions back to 1982, press releases back to 1998 (some available only in Spanish), the Statute of the Court, and extensive links to international conventions on the subject of human rights.

International Commission of Jurists

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is a non-governmental organisation which promotes human rights and the rule of law both internationally and at a national level. Founded in 1952, it comprises a standing group of 60 eminent jurists from many jurisdictions worldwide, supported by an International Secretariat based in Geneva. Publications on its web site extend back to 1952. They include defunct publications such as the ICJ Review (1969-2001), the ongoing series of Practitioners’ Guides, reports on topical issues, and annual reports. The ICJ’s frequent E-Bulletin on counter-terrorism and human rights is available on subscription (free of charge).

International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an independent, neutral organisation based in Geneva which works to ensure protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and strife worldwide, and to promote respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law. IHL content is accessible in the “War & Law” section, or via the Quick Access or Resource Centre tabs. There are three separate “IHL databases”, devoted to treaties (texts, information and commentary), customary IHL and national implementation. Throughout the site links are provided to key documents and other publications. ICRC annual reports are included from 1994 onwards.

International Human Rights

This is a narrative research guide on the GlobaLex site, with many links to relevant organisations and documents, to the major international human rights systems which operate at both international and regional levels. This latest version dated November/December 2017 (earlier versions back to 2007 are still accessible) has been expanded and completely rewritten by James Hart, Senior Reference Librarian in the University of Cincinnati Law Library.

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) was set up following the merger of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and the Equality Authority on 1 November 2014. It is an independent public body that accounts directly to the Oireachtas. The Commission can carry out inquiries, provide legal assistance, initiate legal proceedings and appear as amicus curiae before the Irish High Court and Supreme Court in cases concerning human rights and equality. The Your Rights section of the site has links to guidance on equality and human rights law. Other site content (which can be found via Publications and Publication Type) includes legislative observations, research reports, policy statements and submissions, and annual reports. There is also information on recent Irish cases in which the IHREC has appeared as amicus curiae .

JUSTICE

Justice is an all-party law reform and human rights organisation. It is the British section of the International Commission of Jurists. The site includes briefings on various subjects (asylum, criminal justice, human rights, privacy), press releases, consultations, reports and transcripts of lectures.

Lawtel: Human Rights

Subscription site, providing full text of reported and unreported human rights cases from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and domestic courts. (Some transcripts are only available through the Transcripts Express service at an additional cost.) Other content includes full text of selected treaties, including an analysis of the European Convention on Human Rights; the Human Rights Act 1998, both consolidated and original versions; key legislation and proposed legislation; comments on domestic and ECHR cases; and summaries of relevant articles. The Human Rights section of Lawtel is updated daily and can be found under the ‘Specialist Areas’ drop down menu.

Liberty

Liberty, also known formally as the National Council for Civil Liberties, is an independent organisation seeking to protect civil liberties and promote human rights in England and Wales. Site content includes press releases, articles on different aspects of the Human Rights Act 1998, plus details of current and completed test cases, which Liberty has taken to higher English courts and the European Court of Human Rights.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

The Commission is the independent national human rights institution for Northern Ireland. It was set up in March 1999 under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 in compliance with the commitment made by the British Government in the Good Friday Agreement. The site includes human rights related legislation and policy documents, press releases, speeches and articles.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the leading United Nations entity on human rights. Site content includes an extensive collection of conventions, declarations and other “human rights instruments”; information on human rights by country; a set of specialised databases; and many fact sheets, reference materials and other publications.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe: Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an ad hoc international organisation under the United Nations, with 57 participating states, concerned with conflict prevention and crisis management. Its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is active in areas which include election observation, democratic development, human rights and the rule of law. ODIHR publishes and maintains the Legislationline database: a link to that and other specialised OSCE databases is provided in the Resources pages. Also in Resources there is a Documents Library containing decisions, recommendations, treaties, fact sheets, and other publications.

Privacy International

Privacy International, an independent non-governmental organisation based in London, was founded in 1990 to protect personal privacy. Resources on its web site have an emphasis on surveillance matters and data protection and include reports, analysis and news items. Within the Legal Work section (under “What We Do”) there is information on the legal action Privacy International has taken against governments and companies. Some of these have related documents available.

Project Diana

Project Diana is an online human rights archive at Yale Law School. Selected cases and documents are available on the web site.

Reprieve

Reprieve is a London-based human rights organisation founded by anti-capital punishment lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. Its activities focus particularly on the death penalty in the United States and elsewhere and on the use of torture around the world. The site includes extensive links, case histories, reports, articles and press releases.

UK Human Rights Blog

UK Human Rights Blog is run by members of 1 Crown Office Row barristers’ chambers in the Temple with the aim of providing “a free, comprehensive and balanced legal update service”. It includes news, articles, case summaries and case comment, written by members of chambers and guest contributors. The archive extends back to 2009.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR is the UN agency responsible for safeguarding the rights and well-being of refugees. Its web site provides detailed information, news, online documents and statistics. The site’s “Refworld” provides a searchable database of online country information, legal information, policy documents and reference documents.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The full text English and French language versions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the site of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Also available are translations into more than 500 languages and dialects.

Universal Human Rights Index

The Universal Human Rights Index is designed to facilitate access to documents of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies and the Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Humans Rights Council. It contains all concluding observations issued by the treaty bodies from the year 2000 onwards, as well as reports published by the Special Procedures since 2006. Documents can be accessed by country, rights or body.

University of California Berkeley Human Rights Center

Established in 1994 to promote human rights and international justice, this research and training centre is now part of Berkeley Law, the UC Berkeley School of Law. The Human Rights Center (HRC) has conducted human rights investigations in more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Iraq, Rwanda, Uganda, Burma and the former Yugoslavia. The site includes information on both current and completed projects. Also available are a range of publications, including HRC reports, articles and bibliographies.

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library

This comprehensive research tool contains over 60,000 documents on human rights and related material, and links to over 4,000 other sites, arranged by topic, region and organisation.