Exercising your human rights

In this section you can find practical action you can take, If you feel that your human rights have been breached.

Taking action

If you feel your human rights have been breached and you want to do something about it, there is no single or ‘right’ way of dealing with it. It depends on the context and your particular circumstances.

Find out more about how and where you can get initial help and advice.

You may be able to resolve the problem without taking legal action. Just discussing the issue with the person or organisation who has potentially breached your rights may be enough. If it can’t be resolved informally, you can make a formal complaint.

You should bear in mind that there are strict time limits for taking legal action. These time limits can mean you need to take legal action quite quickly so as not to lose your rights. Time limits can be complicated, but in some cases you may have to actually 'issue proceedings' in court within three months or less.

We strongly recommend you consult a reputable human rights adviser or lawyer before proceeding with any legal action.

Before you take action

If you think your rights have been breached and you want to take action, you'll need to:

be sure that the Human Rights Act applies to the individual or organisation treating you unfairly: find out more about who the Act applies to
identify which human right or rights you think have been breached: our information on the individual rights in the Human Rights Act will help you with this

Last updated: 06 Aug 2018