Using Your Human Rights

If you feel that your human rights may have been breached in a particular situation, this section can help you to assess the situation and your possible options – both in and out of the courts.

What can you do about it?

It may be that you will be able to resolve the problem without taking legal action: there are a range of other steps to consider first to help you resolve a problem. In this section of the website, you can find out about other organisations which may be able to help you, as well as practical action you can take.

If you are being discriminated against, you may also be able to use the Human Rights Act to take action, or to strengthen your case.

There is no one single way of dealing with a potential human rights violation: it depends on the context and on your particular circumstances. As a general rule, it may be helpful to consider using the following steps as a guide to dealing with your problem.

Go to the next step, Getting help and advice.

Important notes

In all cases, there are time limits which mean that you may need actually to take legal action quite quickly not to lose your rights. Time limits can be complicated but can mean you may have to actually 'issue proceedings' in courts in some cases within three months.

This section of the website will only give you a general overview of what to do if you feel you have a human rights claim: we strongly recommend you consult a reputable human rights adviser or lawyer before proceeding with any legal action.

Acknowledgement

We'd like to thank the British Institute for Human Rights for allowing us to base some of this material on their series of guides, called Your Human Rights. These are available at the BIHR website.

Last Updated: 10 Sep 2015