Nearly every day as President of the Law Society I signed a letter addressed to a head of a foreign government.

These letters were known as letters of intervention, they used to make harrowing reading.

They generally involved, on the part of the government concerned, torture, often death and certainly persecution on a scale one finds difficult to believe still occurs amongst civilised nations.The letters were written after a great deal of research and painstaking investigation on the part of such well-known bodies as Amnesty International.

The International Bar Association also plays a significant role in this area.

Despite the number of letters I never became hardened to the fearful stories that lay behind them.

Each letter involved, on my part at least, a clear understanding of the role of our Law Society and the influence it had in such situations.A lot of the activity in this field takes place at the Law Society instigated by the international human rights working party.

The working party has a cross-section of members not made-up, necessarily, of Council members but rather those who are dedicated to using the rule of law as a means of protecting human rights.

It is easy in these days of constant pressure towards the bottom line to forget that one of the fundamental duties of any lawyer who believes in the rule of law is to use the law to protect and maintain the dignity of human beings.The first real and most significant intervention in practical terms was the visit, some years ago, by a Past President, the late Sir David Napley.

He went to South Africa in less happier times to observe the inquest into the death of Steve Biko.

We all remember the clarity of what he had to say when he came back and the manner in which he reported on the farce that the inquest represented as an enquiry into the causes of Steve Biko's dreadful death.I had neither the skill nor the ability of Sir David when I was President of the Law Society bu t I had a distinct interest in anything to do with human rights.

I was already then, and still remain, a member of the working party.

I pay tribute to three of its members Jane Deighton, Alexandra Marks and Geoffrey Bindman.The last mentioned, together with a member of the Bar, Bill Bowring, recently went to Israel, the occupied territories and the new Palestinian autonomous areas and as a result produced a devastating report about the abuse of the rights of Palestinians in those areas.

The report, written in unemotional language, set out a catalogue of infringements of human rights.The working party meets on a regular basis.

Its interests are widespread but cover a fraction of those about which there could be areas of concern.

It is assisted by Fiona Mackenzie of the Law Society International Directorate.

Another member of the working party, Louise Christian, has been to Turkey and produced a report entitled 'Lawyers in fear: law in jeopardy' which highlighted the Kurdestan Human Rights Project.

Those who are concerned about matters closer to Europe should read those reports because they indicate that our colleagues have nothing like the freedom of practice that we take for granted.A particularly important mission was one by Ms Deighton when she joined members of the Bar human rights committee and the Faculty of Advocates in going to Malawi.

Orton and Vera Chirwa, both of whom are lawyers, had been imprisoned for many years because of their political activities.

They had had little access to legal help or to any kind of help.

Both were barristers of long standing.

The outcome of their visit was that they did see both Orton and Vera Chirwa who had had no visitors for many years.

Orton died, but Vera has now been released.Malawi was a member of the commonwealth and those of us who go to the commonwealth law conferences realise that many member of the commonwealth, particularly in Africa, feel that we show little interest in their problems as they struggle to develop their own common law.

In Africa I believe that a great deal more could be done by the English legal profession to help our colleagues.

Many have no access to case reports or cases are not reported at all through lack of printing facilities.

If we wish the common law to spread and, in doing so, protect the human rights of those that live in its society, we should all of us help in that regard.The international human rights working party is an important part of the Law Society.

Its work is unceasing.

Volunteers are always needed; contributors like Ms Marks who has been unceasing in her efforts to give the working party a sense of purpose.

The Law Society is committed to protecting human rights on an international scale.

It is important that in this, the year of the 150th anniversary of the Society, we should realise that our influence extends far more widely than we realise and that the regard in which we are held overseas is something that we must always live up to.