The Bar Council of England and Wales and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) have sent a letter to President Erdogan of Turkey urging immediate action by Turkish authorities to protect lawyers and safeguard the rule of law in Turkey. The letter comes as Turkey marks its annual Day of the...
The Bar Council and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales have sent a public letter to the UK Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt urging him to take action in support of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. Sotoudeh was sentenced to 38 years imprisonment and 148 lashes for undertaking her professional obligations to her clients...
Michael Ivers QC, an executive officer of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC), returned Monday from Zimbabwe where he has been conducting a number of trial observations over the last week in and around Harare. These follow unrest during anti- government protests in the days after 14th January, where acts of...
BHRC has joined a statement with 31 other organisations calling for the acquittal of Wang Quanzhang, a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer arrested during the 709 Crackdown. On 28 January 2019, Mr Wang was found guilty of “subversion of state power” and sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison and 5-year deprivation of political...
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) has joined ten other Bar Associations, Law Societies and Legal Organisations in a joint declaration concerning the breakdown of the rule of law and serious threats against the independence of Judges, Lawyers, and Prosecutors in Turkey. The declaration marks the 9th annual Day of the Endangered...
The Bar Human Rights Committee joined other professional bodies in raising concern for the safety of Colombian Lawyer Daniel Prado Albarracin, currently representing victims of crimes committed by the paramilitary group “The 12 Apostles.” The open letter was sent to the President of the Republic of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez, and was signed by BHRC, the...
In response to reports that Asia Bibi’s lawyer, Saif Ul Malook, has received death threats and been granted temporary asylum in the Netherlands, legal leaders in England and Wales have made the following statements. Andrew Walker QC, Chair of the Bar Council, said: “No lawyer, in any jurisdiction, should fear intimidation or violence for doing...
Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales and ARTICLE 19 will host a panel discussion highlighting urgent and continuing concerns about freedom of expression and the rule of law in Turkey, which has jailed more journalists than any other worldwide in the last two years. The panel event, chaired by Ms Ann Clwyd MP, is hosted...
The Bar Human Rights Committee will be hosting a panel discussion at the Annual Bar and Young Conference 2018 in London on 24 November 2018. The panel “A Global Mission: Championing Women in the Fight for Human Rights” will be a dynamic discussion on how women in the legal professions represent and champion women, including...
The Bar Human Rights Committee alongside the Law Society of England and Wales and the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute have sent a joint submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers concerning the independence of the legal profession in Turkey. The submission raised concern for the fair trial rights of lawyers...
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.