Human Rights: The Case for the Defence – with Shami Chakrabarti

After the devastation of World War Two, the international community came together to enshrine fundamental rights to refuge, health, education and living standards, for privacy, fair trials and free speech, and outlawing torture, slavery and discrimination. Their goal was greater global justice, equality, and peace. That settlement is now in danger, attacked by opponents from across the political spectrum and populist and authoritarian movements worldwide, argues Shami Chakrabarti, lawyer, parliamentarian and leading British human rights defender. Her new book, Human Rights: The Case for the Defence, outlines the historic national and international struggles for human rights, and explains the law and logic underpinning human dignity and universal freedoms – because, she says, for human rights to survive, they must be far better understood by everyone. Speakers Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, former Shadow Attorney General and author of Human Rights: The Case for the Defence Colm O'Cinneide, Professor of Human Rights Law, UCL The event was chaired by Satvinder Juss, Professor of Law, Dickson Poon School of Law at King's College London.