Human Rights, Shami Chakrabarti In Conversation With Rachel Holmes

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. We are threatened by wars, inequality, new technologies and climate catastrophe, and we need our human rights now more than ever.

Outlining the historic national and international struggles for human rights, from the fall of Babylon, to the present day, Shami Chakrabarti will outline the law and logic underpinning human dignity and universal freedoms. Her intervention will engage both sceptics and supporters, equipping believers in the battle of ideas and persuading doubters to think again. For human rights to survive, they must be far better understood by everyone.

Shami Chakrabarti is a leading British human rights lawyer who has held a number of public roles. A legislator in the House of Lords, she is the author of On Liberty and Of Women. Director of Liberty (the National Council for Civil Liberties) from 2003 to 2016, she was Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales from 2016 to 2020. We welcome her back to Five Leaves for her conversation with Rachel Holmes, whose biographies include Eleanor Marx, Sylvia Pankhurst and Dr James Barry.

Shami Chakrabarti’s Human Rights: the case for the defence is published in May by Penguin.

Refreshments provided