Description
Liberty is a UK based advocacy and membership organization that challenges unjust laws, defends civil liberties and promotes human rights. It was originally founded in 1934 as the National Council for Civil Liberties, after police tried to stop protests during the Hunger Marches, and took the name Liberty in 1989. It works through the courts, in Parliament and in the wider community to hold power to account.
The organization is made up of a democratic membership association and a non-profit company that employs staff and runs campaigns. It works closely with the Civil Liberties Trust, an independent registered charity that commissions Liberty to provide public advice and information, research, policy work and litigation. Liberty also houses Liberty Investigates, an editorially independent investigative journalism unit.
Liberty campaigns and litigates on issues including mass surveillance, police use of facial recognition and other intrusive technology, immigration detention and hostile environment policies, and the rights of soldiers in the military justice system. Its core, ongoing issues are torture, privacy, free speech, equality, protest rights and policing. It produces briefings and reports on these topics and provides consultation to parliamentary committees.
Liberty is a cross-party, non-party political organization and a member of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations.