Human Rights: The UK’s international human rights obligations
This collection brings together information on the UK’s international obligations in the field of human rights.
This page brings together documents relevant to the UK’s international obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the United Nations (UN) human rights treaties the UK has ratified which fall within the Ministry of Justice’s remit.
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation for the promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It was founded by the Treaty of London in 1949 and is based in Strasbourg in France. It has 46 member States, including European Union Member States, but is entirely separate from the European Union.
The European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an international treaty between the States of the Council of Europe. The United Kingdom was one of the States that drafted the ECHR and was one of the first States to ratify it in 1951. The Convention came into force in 1953.
The current version of the Convention incorporates the amendments made by Protocols No. 11, 14 and 15, in 1998, 2010 and 2021 respectively.
The substantive rights and freedoms contained in the Convention are:
- Article 2: the right to life
- Article 3: the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
- Article 4: the prohibition of slavery and forced labour
- Article 5: the right to liberty and security
- Article 6: the right to a fair trial
- Article 7: the prohibition of retrospective criminal penalties
- Article 8: the right to private and family life
- Article 9: the freedom of thought, conscience and religion
- Article 10: the freedom of expression
- Article 11: the freedom of assembly and association
- Article 12: the right to marry
- Article 13: the right to an effective national remedy for breach of these rights
- Article 14: the prohibition of discrimination in the protection of these rights
The UK has also ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention on the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, as well Protocol No. 1, which contains three additional rights:
- Article 1 of Protocol No.1: the right to free enjoyment of property
- Article 2 of Protocol No.1: the right to education
- Article 3 of Protocol No.1: the right to free and fair elections
The European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is an international court which rules on individual or State applications regarding possible violations of the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court’s judgments and other information relevant to the UK are publicly available.
The ECtHR also publishes its Rules of Court and Practice Directions.
It is assisted in its work by a Registry, which provides legal and administrative support, particularly in the processing and triaging of applications made to the Court.
The Committee of Ministers
The Committee of Ministers is the Council of Europe’s decision-making body. It is made up of Ministers from the 46 States of the Council of Europe. Amongst other functions, the Committee of Ministers is responsible for supervising the execution of final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
It issues decisions and resolutions on the implementation of these judgments, on the basis of action plans and reports provided by the States concerned and following a defined set of rules for the supervision of the execution of judgments.
The Committee of Ministers is supported in this work by the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is a Council of Europe body which organises visits to places of detention, in order to assess how persons deprived of their liberty are treated. These places include, amongst others, prisons, juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees, psychiatric hospitals and social care homes.
CPT delegations have unlimited access to places of detention, and the right to move inside such places without restriction. They interview persons deprived of their liberty in private and communicate freely with anyone who can provide information.
The UK’s Response to the Committee for the Prevention of Torture’s visit to the UK
The CPT and the United Kingdom (coe.int)
Annual Reports to the Joint Committee on Human Rights
Every year, the government provides a report to the Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) which sets out the government’s record on the implementation of human rights judgments.
United Nations
The Ministry of Justice has responsibility for the following UN Treaties:
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- The Convention Against Torture
The UK regularly submits reports to the UN Treaty Bodies and Human Rights Committee in response to UN observations and recommendations. They are available below.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) aims to ensure the protection of civil and political rights. It came into force in 1976.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
As part of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the UK agrees to ensure the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to education, fair and just conditions of work, an adequate standard of living, the highest attainable standard of health and social security.
Convention Against Torture
The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) aims to prevent torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the world.
The UK has also signed up to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) and ratified it in 2003. The OPCAT established a UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) whose role is to visit places of detention in member States and to make recommendations to the State being visited.
The SPT last visited the UK in 2019, with a subsequent report that the UK responded to. This was followed by a dialogue with the SPT in September 2021.
The OPCAT also requires States to establish one or several independent National Preventive Mechanisms (NPM) to carry out a system of regular visits to all places of detention in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The UK’s NPM, established in 2009, is a multi-body mechanism coordinated by a Secretariat. The membership reflects the UK’s inspecting and monitoring mechanisms, so includes, for example, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, the Independent Monitoring Board and the Lay Observers.
The 21 members who make up the NPM conducted thousands of monitoring visits and inspections to places of detention in the reporting year. The NPM produces an annual report which collates their key findings and presents an overview of the situation in UK detention settings. These reports are available at the bottom of this page.
Universal Periodic Review
The UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a peer-review of the human rights records of UN Member States, coordinated by the UN’s Human Rights Council. The UPR process takes place over five-year cycles.
Common Core Document
The Common Core Document is a snapshot of the constitutional structure of, and key statistics on, the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. It is part of all periodic reports from the UK to the UN.
Reports to the United Nations
UK National Preventive Mechanism annual reports
Annual Reports of the UK’s National Preventive Mechanism: Monitoring places of detention. The NPM produces an annual report setting out its findings over the past year.
Updates to this page
Published 18 March 2022Last updated 30 March 2022 + show all updates
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'Third Universal Periodic Review: UK’s Mid-term report on recommendations' added to Reports to the United Nation
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First published.