Defining Rights and Wrongs

Human rights complaints attract a great deal of public interest, but what is going on below the surface? When people contact a human rights lawyer, how do they think about and use human rights discourse? How are complaints turned into cases? Can administrative systems be both effective and fair? Defining Rights and Wrongs investigates the day-to-day practices of low-level officials and intermediaries as they construct domestic human rights complaints. It identifies the values that a human rights system should uphold if it is to promote mutual respect and foster the personal dignity and equal rights of citizens.

Tom Patch, Associate Vice President, Equity, University of British Columbia:
Human rights agencies have been the subject of intense scrutiny, and sometimes criticism, over the past decade. There have been numerous studies, reports, and commissions across the country, but none of them ask the questions that this book asks about how the perceptions and values of the participants in the process shape the outcomes. This is important work that will add new information to the discourse around human rights reform and may lead it in new directions.