Global warming to human rights

In a continuing series, Lucy Winskell, chairwoman of the Law Society's international human rights committee, discusses its key role in training lawyers and encouraging twinning projects between local law societies and those overseas, maintaining the profession's awareness of debates and contemporary human rights issues and supporting lawyers who work in the field or those who have been violated by itThe Law Society's mandate on international human rights is to support: lawyers working towards the development, implementation and maintenance of international human rights standards throughout the world; lawyers whose own human rights have been violated or are at risk; and the upholding of international human rights standards in the administration of justice itself.Letters of intervention are sent, over the signature of the Law Society President, to government authorities worldwide on behalf of lawyers whose own human rights are being violated or are at risk.

Similar letters are sent on behalf of those under or facing sentence of death, mainly in the US, in cases where the death sentence is imposed in violation of international human rights standards.The international human rights committee undertakes training of lawyers in international human rights law and practice.

It initiated the Nigeria Law Project, funded by the European Commission, and last year participated in training courses for lawyers in Nigeria in international human rights, training skills and practice management.

This year, with funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth office under the Palestinian human rights programme managed by the British Council and in conjunction with the Bar's human rights committee and Surrey Law Society, it arranged for a group of Palestinian judges and lawyers to spend two weeks in London, Guildford and Belfast for international human rights training, legal practice and key elements of English law, with the opportunity of visiting courts and meeting with their counterparts in the UK.The committee encourages twinning projects between local law societies in England and Wales and their counterparts overseas.

A successful twinning project between the Newcastle Law Society and the Rift Valley Law Society in Kenya was set up in 1998.

Similar projects with Palestine (Surrey Law Society) and Turkey (Cambridge Law Society) are under discussion.In addition to its work with overseas lawyers, the committee aims to involve the legal profession and human rights organisations in debates and information about contemporary issues in international human rights.

It organises seminars and evening meetings, sometimes in conjunction with other organisations including Redress, Unicef UK and One World Action.

Recent seminars have included topics such as the role of the defence in international criminal courts.Since 1998, the committee has organised an annual essay competition which is open to law students and young lawyers in England and Wales.

The competition is named after Graham Turnbull, an English solicitor who was killed in 1997 while working as a human rights monitor for the United Nations' field presence in Rwanda.

Last year, the committee established the Graham Turnbull Memorial Fund, an educational charity which, with financial support from the Law Society Charity, individual solicitors and former UN colleagues of Mr Turnbull, will fund the 500 first prize for the competition.The committee has published reports on the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and reports on the situation of lawyers in a number of countries including Palestine, Kenya and Northern Ireland.

It has published, jointly with Amnesty International, the Guide to the United Nations Thematic Mechanisms.

The committee interacts with the UK government over matters relating to international human rights and humanitarian law.

It is a member of the UK Non-Governmental Organisation Coalition for the International Criminal Court which lobbied the government on the provisions of the International Criminal Court Act, which will come into force in September 2001.

It is actively engaged in persuading the government to become party to the United Nations treaty provisions that allow individual complaint to the United Nations.l For additional information or to add a name to the committee's mailing list, contact Mel James, Secretary to the international human rights committee, The Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL; e-mail: internationalhumanrights@lawsociety.org.uk