This site has been constructed with a view to offering visitors scientific information related to human rights.
In order to create a user-friendly access to data, the “Issues” section is subdivided into four subsections: Theory - Rights and freedoms - Protections and guarantees - Special focus.
In each thematic section, different kinds of information are available: relevant international or regional instruments, scholarly articles, links to relevant websites, principal legal cases and commentaries, official reports, a selective bibliography, and finally a list of human rights actors working in the field at hand.
Other sections allow direct access to the directory of actors, of the HRNi scientific committees, or to the list of human rights instruments. The search engine allows you to go directly to the specific information you are looking for.
Finally, the "News and Updates", "Calendar" sections are all directly accessible from the home page.


The scientific evaluation committee and the editorial board are dedicated to guaranteeing the quality of scholarship of the works published on the site.

You are encouraged to submit your contributions to our Editorial Board. Unlike a classic journal or periodical, HRNi aims at becoming an anthology of the best articles on human rights. These may have been published already in traditional publications or may be published for the first time on HRNi.


The HRNi site is supported and updated by a network of qualified researchers. Besides articles, you are encouraged to propose other kinds of modifications that will enrich the site. To do this, just contact HRNi or click on the heading "Contribute".


HRNi is also developing a network of specialists that will mobilize the academic community to lead research programmes in the field of human rights and democracy. This network intends to encourage contact among researchers in order to promote research and the exchange of ideas and specialized information. Moreover, it will guarantee the effectiveness of HRNi interventions: thanks to its ability to call upon the expertise of network members to intervene in their area of specialization, HRNi will be able, if need be, to guide members of political institutions and civil society in search of high-quality studies to the best qualified research units. It will also promote contact between the academic community and the interested public. If you’d like to make contact with one of the network specialists, please write to Ludovic Hennebel (HRNi Programme Manager), at hrni@ulb.ac.be.