BIHR - The British Institute of Human Rights

30/09/2026

❗️There is now only one day left to register your interest in BIHR’s 3-part online open course for UK-based advocates:

🎓️ A Practical Introduction to the Human Rights Act 1998 in Advocacy Work

The Human Rights Act gives advocates practical tools and frameworks to support people in their interactions with public services, including health and social care, housing, welfare, education and beyond.

BIHR won the 2023 National Advocacy Award for Best Support of Advocates. This programme is designed to help advocates create meaningful change and support everyday justice.

BIHR’s CPD-accredited open course will help advocates build the confidence and understanding to use the Human Rights Act practically in their work, strengthening the essential support they provide.

The 3-part online course begins in November and is designed for advocates across the UK.

⌛ Booking enquiries close at 4pm on Thursday 1 October 2026.

➡️ Find out more, register for the taster session, or send us a booking enquiry:
https://buff.ly/j1WcSq9

24/09/2026

⌛ There is now only one week left to register your interest in BIHR’s 3-part online open course for advocates who want to use the Human Rights Act practically in their work:

A Practical Introduction to the Human Rights Act 1998 in Advocacy Work

Whether you support adults with learning disabilities, people being treated under the Mental Health Act, children and young people, or anyone navigating public services, understanding the Human Rights Act 1998 is vital.

The Human Rights Act gives advocates practical tools and frameworks to support people in their interactions with public services, including health and social care, housing, welfare, education and beyond.

BIHR won the 2023 National Advocacy Award for Best Support of Advocates. This programme is designed to help advocates create meaningful change and support everyday justice.

BIHR’s CPD-accredited open course will help advocates build the confidence and understanding to use the Human Rights Act practically in their work, strengthening the essential support they provide.

The 3-part online course begins in November and is designed for statutory and independent advocates across the UK.

⌛ Booking enquiries close at 4pm on Thursday 1 October 2026.

➡️ Find out more, register for the taster session, or send us a booking enquiry:
https://buff.ly/j1WcSq9

23/09/2026

What do housing, healthcare, social care, welfare and education have to do with our Human Rights Act?

A lot.

Decisions about these parts of our everyday lives can engage human rights including family life, dignity, liberty, equality and access to justice.

Yet economic and social rights are often discussed as though they sit separately from the Human Rights Act.

BIHR’s new position paper explains why we think that misses something important.

The Human Rights Act is not the whole answer to economic and social rights protection, but it is already a vital, practical and enforceable part of it.

The challenge is not only about creating new protections. It is also about making sure the rights and duties we already have are understood, used and implemented in everyday life.

Read BIHR’s position paper ⬇️

Explore BIHR's position on economic and social rights and the Human Rights Act, including housing, health, social care, welfare and education, and why implementation matters for everyday justice.

16/09/2026

The AGNI judgment has changed how the right to liberty is understood. So what happens next?

In the final blog of our "Rethinking the Right to Liberty" series, BIHR CEO Sanchita Hosali reflects on the different perspectives shared across the series and what they mean for putting human rights into practice.

AGNI has shaped the legal framework around Article 5 of the Human Rights Act. But public authorities' human rights duties do not begin and end with Article 5.

Decisions about care, support, living arrangements, relationships and participation can engage other human rights too. For BIHR, the focus is now on ensuring those rights continue to shape everyday decision-making.

⬇️ Read Sanchita's reflections and what BIHR is focusing on next:

https://buff.ly/HQ9HLNv

Rethinking the Right to Liberty is BIHR's five-part blog series on how the Supreme Court’s AGNI judgment redraws the line on Article 5 of the Human Rights Act. In our fifth blog, BIHR's CEO Sanchita Hosali reflects on the varied perspectives we've shared in this series and what we're focusing on n...

15/09/2026

🚨 This is your last chance to register for our free, one-hour online taster session which takes place this Thursday, 17 September at 11am.

The session will give you a feel for what to expect from our upcoming 3-part course: A Practical Introduction to the Human Rights Act 1998 in Advocacy Work as well as how you can apply.

➡️ Register for the free taster session: https://buff.ly/SQcokdW

The Human Rights Act gives advocates practical tools and frameworks to help people navigate public services, including health and social care, housing, welfare and education.

BIHR won the 2023 National Advocacy Award for Best Support of Advocates. Our programme builds on that recognised expertise to help advocates create meaningful change and support everyday justice.

BIHR’s CPD-accredited, 3-part online course begins in November. It is designed to help statutory and independent advocates across the UK use the Human Rights Act in their work and strengthen the essential support they provide.

⌛ Course booking enquiries close at 4pm on Thursday 1 October.

➡️ Find out more about the course or send us a booking enquiry: https://buff.ly/yPAuouB

From November 2026, BIHR is running a 3-part open course on using the Human Rights Act 1998 to strengthen advocacy work.

14/09/2026

There's still time to have your say on proposed changes to Education Otherwise Than in a School (EOTIS).

Around 16,000 children and young people in England receive EOTIS because a school or college setting is inappropriate for their needs.

The Government is consulting on changes to how EOTIS works as part of its SEND reforms. One proposal would mean parents and young people could no longer appeal decisions about whether EOTIS should be provided, changed or removed.

At BIHR, we're concerned this could further weaken accountability within the SEND system and reduce opportunities for families to challenge decisions affecting a child or young person's education.

Our Human Rights Act places legal duties on public authorities to respect, protect and fulfil people's human rights. Effective routes to challenge decisions are an important part of ensuring those duties make a difference in practice.

The consultation closes on Friday 18 September. We encourage parents, carers, practitioners and organisations to share their views.

🔗 Read our overview of the proposals, our human rights concerns and how to respond: https://buff.ly/Abnt9ci

SEND reform consultation: find out what proposed changes to Education Otherwise Than in School (EOTIS) mean for appeal rights, accountability and children's human rights.

11/09/2026

How do we make sure legal protections make a difference in people's everyday lives?

Yesterday, BIHR CEO Sanchita Hosali spoke at a conference on the future of socio-economic rights, just a day after the Government announced plans to introduce the socio-economic duty in England.

Sanchita highlighted why implementation must sit alongside legal reform and why there is still enormous untapped potential in the Human Rights Act protections we already have.

Read more 👇
🔗 https://buff.ly/CouQnQd

BIHR CEO Sanchita Hosali speaks at socio-economic rights conference, highlighting why implementation must sit alongside legal reform.

09/09/2026

⌛ There are now only two weeks left to register your interest in BIHR’s 3-part online open course for advocates who want to use the Human Rights Act practically in their work:

A Practical Introduction to the Human Rights Act 1998 in Advocacy Work

Whether you support adults with learning disabilities, people being treated under the Mental Health Act, children and young people, or anyone navigating public services, understanding the Human Rights Act 1998 is vital.

The Human Rights Act gives advocates practical tools and frameworks to support people in their interactions with public services, including health and social care, housing, welfare, education and beyond.

BIHR won the 2023 National Advocacy Award for Best Support of Advocates. This programme is designed to help advocates create meaningful change and support everyday justice.

BIHR’s CPD-accredited open course will help advocates build the confidence and understanding to use the Human Rights Act practically in their work, strengthening the essential support they provide.

The 3-part online course begins in November and is designed for statutory and independent advocates across the UK.

⌛ Booking enquiries close at 4pm on Wednesday 23 September.

➡️ Find out more, register for the taster session, or send us a booking enquiry:

https://buff.ly/yPAuouB

03/09/2026

“You don't need human rights law to care about rights. You need it because it gives you another tool to make your advocacy stronger.”

Advocates put human rights into practice every day by supporting people to have their voices heard and a meaningful say in decisions that affect them.

But using the specific legal language of the Human Rights Act 1998 can make that advocacy even stronger by helping advocates to frame human rights concerns as legal issues and remind public authorities of their legal duties. In our new article, we explore how this works in practice.

If your organisation wants to learn more about applying human rights legal language in practice, our CPD-accredited online course, A Practical Introduction to the Human Rights Act 1998 in Advocacy Work, explores the legal framework in greater depth and provides practical tools for using it in everyday advocacy.

The 3-part course is designed for independent and statutory advocates working across the UK.

Applications close on 23rd September.

⬇️ Read the article and find out more about the course

Advocacy Awareness Week falls on 23rd – 27th November 2026. On the run up to the week, BIHR are sharing reflections on what the Human Rights Act 1998 means to advocacy work.

02/09/2026

"AGNI undoubtedly represents a reset."

In the fourth blog in our Rethinking the Right to Liberty series, barrister, writer and educator, Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon) explores what the Supreme Court's AGNI judgment means from a legal perspective.

Alex looks at the Court's narrower approach to deprivation of liberty under Article 5 of the Human Rights Act, including its focus on compulsion and its approach to "valid consent".

He also examines what safeguards should exist for people whose liberty is significantly restricted beyond the protection provided by Article 5.

Read Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon)'s perspective on what the judgment means, and where the law might go next:

https://buff.ly/4veG8cQ

Rethinking the Right to Liberty is BIHR's five-part blog series on how the Supreme Court’s AGNI judgment redraws the line on Article 5 of the Human Rights Act. In our fourth blog, barrister, writer and educator, Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon), explores what the judgment means from a legal perspective.