Human rights

‘As a leading international law firm, we believe that we have a responsibility to promote, protect and uphold the rule of law, and within it human rights. Our commitment is particularly reinforced through the pro bono work we take on. We feel this is important work in an ever-changing world where torture, repression and the denial of access to justice remain a threat to individual liberties.’
Paul Lomas, partner with responsibility for our pro bono work

We work with a number of human rights charities, including Amicus, Reprieve, Justice, Liberty, Fair Trials International and REDRESS, with an emphasis on supporting work that ensures people are given a fair trial, corrects a manifest injustice and helps establish a legal right.

Our award-winning human rights programme is extensive and wide-ranging. We assist those facing the death penalty in the US and the Caribbean; we also undertake cases addressing key human rights issues, such as Guantánamo Bay.

Some of our human rights work has brought together teams from different jurisdictions, for example our award-winning work on a prominent case on the use of evidence obtained by torture in the UK’s House of Lords. More recently, in 2007 we provided comparative law research for Liberty on a range of human rights issues. We have also assisted clients taking their cases to the European Court of Human Rights, giving hope to appellants whose domestic legal redress and financial support is otherwise exhausted.

Through our relationship with Advocates for International Development, we are helping a Tanzanian nongovernmental organisation draft child rights legislation for the country.

In addition to our casework, we organise events that promote human rights. In 2006 and 2007, we hosted the public hearings of the International Commission of Jurists Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights.

As part of our trainee programme, we also provide a secondment to Liberty, one of the UK’s leading human rights organisations.

Pro Bono Activity of the Year Award, 2006 Lawyer awards. This was for our intervention in the landmark House of Lords case challenging the admissibility of evidence obtained by torture overseas by agents of a foreign state. Over 60 of our lawyers worldwide prepared a comparative law brief on 22 different jurisdictions to present to the Lords, giving 1,200 hours of their time to our pro bono clients, the Commonwealth Law Association, the International Commission of Jurists and the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association.

Corporate Social Responsibility Firm of the Year, 2007 Legal Business Awards: ‘Freshfields led the way in the legal sector by being the first law firm to produce a CSR report under the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines in January 2006. The firm has also been a strong supporter of human rights group Reprieve.’

See here for further details of our human rights work on Death Row and Guantánamo Bay.