In Defence of Principles

Since 9/11 and the onset of the “war on terror,” the principal challenge confronting liberal democracies has been to balance freedom with security and individual with collective rights.  In Defence of Principles sheds new light on the evolution of human rights norms in liberal democracies by charting the activism of four NGOs ­– the Canadian Council of Churches, Canadian Jewish Congress, Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and Amnesty International Canada – on issues of refugee rights, hate speech, and the death penalty. This activism often includes the use of difficult, often controversial legal cases on as platforms to assert human rights principles and shape judicial policy-making. Although human rights principles are often spoken of in absolute terms, this book reminds us that they are never certain – even in countries that have a vibrant civil society, a long tradition of rule of law, and a judiciary that possesses the constitutional authority to engage in judicial review. The struggles of these NGOs reveal not only the fragility but also the resilience of ideas about rights in liberal democracies.