The Human Rights Centre, which was set up between 1982 and 1983 within Essex University, is an interdisciplinary centre for research, publication and teaching.
The Centre is staffed by a team of academic human rights lawyers in the UK, together with philosophers, political theorists and sociologists who have worked on human rights issues. The Centre co-ordinates the University’s interdisciplinary human rights teaching programme, as well as a programme of research, training, external consultancy and publication on international, comparative and national aspects of human rights.
The Human Rights Centre is especially well-known for its work internationally on civil and political rights, including the prohibition against torture, as well as international humanitarian law and the protection of human rights in situations of armed conflict. All these remain major areas of research for the Centre.
The Centre has close links with the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and international and national NGOs. It has special interests in Europe, including the institutions of the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union, and the Commonwealth.