A right to support from the UK when in prison abroad

We believe there should be a legal right to consular assistance. For British citizens detained overseas, consular assistance is absolutely vital to safeguarding their welfare and human rights. Prisoners Abroad supports the principle put forward by Redress in 2024 that consular assistance should be provided as a legal obligation. We support this because: 

• It would enable British citizens in detention abroad, and their families, to understand the level of support that they and their families can expect – providing much-needed transparency and consistency
• It would enable access to consular assistance to the small number of people that are refused consular assistance by the UK government
• We know that the visibility of consular assistance offers prisoners protection and reduces the likelihood of mistreatment – from fellow prisoners or potentially abusive prison officers – because they know someone is monitoring the person’s welfare. 

The Labour government made a promise in September 2024 to introduce a new right to consular assistance for British nationals detained abroad. This promise was made in the Labour Party’s manifesto, stating: "Labour will also strengthen support for British nationals abroad. We will introduce a new right to consular assistance in cases of human rights violations." We are looking forward to the UK government engaging with us and other key stakeholders on this policy commitment as they develop their plans and timeline for making this commitment a reality. 

News and blogs

Prisoners Abroad's comment supporting legal right to consular assistance