United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights delivers the Annual Grotius Lecture
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered this year's Annual Grotius Lecture on Monday 26 June at the Law Society. 'Is International Human Rights Law Under Threat?'
An audience of over 150 heard the Commissioner speak about the threats he sees today to the protection of human rights in the face of the business community pursuing profits, intelligence and security services pursuing information and politicians who may view human rights as an irritating check on expediency. He concluded that "Our behaviour, and the behaviour of states, will long require legal scaffolding to keep what we recognize as human civilization in place" and commented that "Grotius would be grateful we are still fighting, standing up, for his international society and perhaps even crack a wry smile when thinking just how prescient he was, those four centuries ago"
Read the full speech here
Reporting on the speech in the media today by The Guardian,The Independent and The Globe and Mail
The event was chaired by former UK Supreme Court President and President of the British Institute for International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the Rt Hon the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers.
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