Human Rights (Joint Committee)

The Joint Committee on Human Rights scrutinises the compatibility of UK legislation, policy, and practice with human rights obligations. Operating across both Houses as a select committee, it conducts detailed inquiries and regularly takes oral evidence from government bodies, NGOs, and affected parties. The Committee has recently examined the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill's proposed legacy commission arrangements and the interaction between protest rights and policing powers under current law. Its inquiries have extended to children's rights protections within social care systems, with evidence heard from Ofsted and the British Association of Social Workers. The Committee has also assessed how artificial intelligence regulation addresses human rights concerns, taking testimony from Meta and Microsoft on algorithmic accountability, whilst investigating broader AI governance gaps with the Information Commissioner's Office, Ofcom, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.