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Human Rights
https://www.bihr.org.uk/
British Institute of Human Rights which provides a range of information and other resources (including briefings and toolkits); develops and delivers training and consultancy for the voluntary and community and public sectors on both practice and policy; leads and/or collaborates on demonstration and pilot projects across the voluntary and community and public sectors; undertakes research and policy analysis; and lobbies national government and Parliament, conducts media activity and campaigns and occasional strategic legal interventions.
https://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=home
This is the site of the European Court of Human Rights, the court which decides cases brought under the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom. It provides full details of the work of the Court and its decisions.
https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/convention_eng.pdf
Link to the text of the European Convention on Human Rights
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sweeping-reforms-to-restore-british-liberties
Link to archive material on the Protection of Freedoms Act
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/human-rights-periodic-reports-to-the-united-nations
Reports of the UK government to the UN under various international agreements.
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en
Home page of the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission
https://justice.org.uk/
This is the site of Justice, the British Section of the International Commission of Jurists, an all-party pressure group which campaigns for the promotion of human rights. It contains links to the Students Human Rights Network.
https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/
This is the site for Liberty, formerly called the National Council for Civil Liberties, a campaigning organisation that takes up a wide range of civil liberty issues.
International Law bodies
https://www.un.org/en/rights/
Although much current focus in the UK is on the European Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations is also closely involved in the international promotion of human rights. For further information, go to this and click on ‘What we do” and follow the link to Protect Human Rights. This links to the full range of UN activity in the field of human rights.
https://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/Home.aspx
This is the site of the UN International Criminal Court. It is established under a statute entered into in Rome in 1998, which came into force in 2002. It is designed to provide a permanent court to deal with international crimes against humanity, including genocide and war crimes. While it has attracted a great deal of international support, the US, China and Israel are among those countries that have not supported its creation and are not currently parties to the agreement to create the court.
https://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/index.php?lang=en%2520
This is the home page for the International Court of Justice which sits in the Hague. The Court has a dual role: to settle in accordance with international law the legal disputes submitted to it by States, and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized international organs and agencies.
http://www.icty.org/
Site of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by UN Security Council resolution 827. This resolution was passed on 25 May 1993 in the face of the serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991, and as a response to the threat to international peace and security posed by those serious violations. It also sits in the Hague.
https://uncitral.un.org/
Site of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). It was established by the General Assembly in 1966 (Resolution 2205(XXI) of 17 December 1966). It is based in Vienna. In establishing the Commission, the General Assembly recognized that disparities in national laws governing international trade created obstacles to the flow of trade. It regarded the Commission as the vehicle by which the United Nations could play a more active role in reducing or removing these obstacles. Its primary activity is working towards the harmonization of trade laws. (See also the World Trade Organisation, below).
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982. It has gained nearly universal acceptance since its entry into force on 16 November 1994. It provides a universal legal framework for the rational management of marine resources and their conservation for future generations. It has been hailed as the most important international achievement since the approval of the United Nations Charter in 1945. This site provides information about the whole range of UN sponsored activity which derive from the Convention.
Click on “What we do” and follow the link to Uphold International Law. This gives more detail about international law work sponsored by the United Nations. (
https://www.wto.org/
Site of the World Trade Organization (WTO), based in Geneva. This is a global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. This site explains the activities of WTO and how it goes about its business, and seeks to clarify common misconceptions about its work. The issues dealt with by the WTO and UNCITRAL (see above) are rather different. The WTO deals with trade policy issues, such as trade liberalization, abolition of trade barriers, unfair trade practices or other similar issues, whereas UNCITRAL deals with the laws applicable to private parties in international transactions. As a consequence, UNCITRAL is not involved with "state-to-state" issues such as anti-dumping, countervailing duties, or import quotas. Unlike UNCITRAL, the WTO is an intergovernmental organization independent from the United Nations
Law and Citizenship
https://www.youngcitizens.org/
Site for the Citizenship Foundation, whose work aims to promote more effective citizenship, particularly among young people, through education about the law, democracy and society. Good website with materials for teachers and students, promoting citizenship through education about law and democracy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/parliaments
Unparalleled site offering direct links to broadcast proceedings in all the UK parliaments and the European Parliament.
http://www.democracymatters.org.uk/
Link to organisation promoting the importance of participation in democratic matters
https://www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk/
The site of the Association for Citizenship Teaching, the professional subject association for those involved in citizenship education. The Association's main aim is the furtherance of mutual support, knowledge and good practice, skills and resources for the teaching and learning of Citizenship in schools and colleges. Lot of excellent source material, especially for teachers.
http://www.nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk
Website of the National Justice Museum, which is based in Nottingham. It provides education programmes which are delivered in Nottingham, London and the North West. These are designed to help students to gain a practical understanding of the law and justice system, so they are inspired by their rights and responsibilities, to play an active role in society.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/
Site of the Constitution Unit, University College London. It is the leading research institute examining questions relating to constitutional reform, not just in the UK but abroad. It provides essential work on major topics such as Brexit, Devolution, and the possible break-up of the United Kingdom.