Ethics, justice and human rights

The humanities and social sciences have much to contribute to debates over issues of justice, ethics, and rights. The British Academy has sought to harness this expertise in a number of key policy areas such as the relationship between human rights and the UK constitution, defamation law, the rights of the child, and the age of criminal responsibility.

The Academy also funds work internationally, most recently to develop new understanding of the tensions at the interface between global norms and local attempts to realise justice, rights and equality.

Ethics is also an important area for research policy, and the British Academy is engaged in discussions around research ethics and research integrity both as a research funder and as a body that represents the interests of humanities and social science research.