human rights

Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights

Website of the Hungarian Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights the body established by the Fundamental Law of Hungary to protect civil rights in Hungary. The site provides profiles of the Commissioner and deputies and an organisational structure. There is guidance on lodging a complaint and ongoing cases can be viewed in Hungarian on the site. Full text annual reports are also provided along with a selection of reports on topics including child-friendly justice, refugee homelessness and unaccompanied minors and human rights related documents.

Government of Saint Lucia

The official government website of Saint Lucia provides latest news, tenders and public notices on its homepage. Government announcement, speeches and other official documents can be viewed and downloaded on the “Resources” page. The link marked “Archive” links to the old version of the Saint Lucia government website which, although no longer updated, is still live, and provides links to the constitution and selected codes and regulations, which are not yet available on the new website.

Universal Human Rights Index

Database of country-specific human rights information, provided by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, originally developed at the University of Bern. The Index brings together recommendations, reports, concluding observations from the different parts of the UN human rights protection system: the Treaty Bodies, the Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

ecoi: European Country of Origin Network

Collection of country-of-origin information intended for use by lawyers and others involved in asylum claims, provided by a department of the Austrian Red Cross. Ecoi.net has a page for each country of the world; each page provides key reports and other documents, national laws translated into English, maps and links to country profiles (by the UN, CIA, BBC and so on). Basic and advanced search facilities are available. The site also includes a blog.

Bundesministerium der Justiz

Site of the German Federal Ministry of Justice, which is located in Berlin. Provides information about the role and work of the organisation. Topics covered include citizen’s rights, administration of justice, constitutional/administrative law, human rights, commercial/business law, digital technology and penal law. Users have the option to search the site by keyword, using wildcards/truncation, and can also restrict the search by date, relevance and the type of document required. The main language is German but an English language section is also available.

Reprieve

Reprieve is a London-based charity providing legal representation and assistance for prisoners facing the death penalty and prisoners held beyond the rule of law, for example at Guantanamo Bay; it also investigates and campaigns on issues such as drone attacks and extraordinary rendition. The organisation was founded by human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. The ‘Our Work’ page of its website provides reports, responses to consultations and other publications, together with information and documentation relating to Reprieve investigations and particular prisoners’ cases.

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

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is part of the intergovernmental Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It observes elections, monitors democracy and seeks to foster human rights, tolerance and the rule of law. The Office’s website describes its work, provides press releases and makes available its recommendations, reports, and other publications. On the Resources page there is a Documents Library, an email news service and a multimedia library.

Europeanrights.eu

Website monitoring the protection of fundamental rights in Europe, provided by the University of Bologna’s Interdepartmental centre for research in European Communities Law (CIRDCE), the Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation and European Magistrates for Democracy and Freedoms (MEDEL). The site makes available a collection of journal articles, studies and other commentary, under ‘Comments’.

Forced Migration Online

Forced Migration Online (FMO), managed by the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) at the University of Oxford, provides a collection of research resources, a digital library and other information. It has detailed guides to forced migration issues, by country/region and by topic; a discussion list; information about organizations working with migrants; research guides; and details of other projects with which the FMO team have been involved. The digital library includes nearly 6,000 documents: articles from six leading refugee studies journals, RSC policy briefings and RSC working papers.

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) provides expert advice to EU institutions on questions relating to fundamental rights. Its website includes reports, factsheets and studies; a database of ECJ judgments relating to fundamental rights; and opinions submitted to EU institutions by the FRA. It also makes available a ‘Charterpedia’, a compilation of international, EU and national constitutional law and EU case law relating to fundamental rights.

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