The academic literature on human rights has been dominated by three disciplines: law, philosophy and politics. Although social workers have for a long time liked to talk about rights (Centre for Human Rights 1994; Tan & Envall 2000), especially welfare rights, rights-based practice, and the rights of particular disadvantaged groups, a thorough analysis of human rights and their implications has not been prominent in the social work literature, and lawyers, political scientists and philosophers have dominated the discourse. In terms of human rights practice – the theme of this book – the field has been dominated by lawyers, who are widely regarded as the main human rights professionals. Most edited collections of articles on human rights, and journals dedicated to human rights, are written and edited by lawyers, and the law is commonly seen as the primary mechanism for the safeguarding of human rights and the prevention of human rights abuses (Beetham 1999). Emphasis has been on legislation and on human rights treaties and conventions, and much of the literature is concerned with their analysis and implementation (Mahoney & Mahoney 1993). Many countries have human rights commissions, whose membership is dominated by people with legal training, and which operate in a legal or quasilegal way, for example by hearing complaints and making judgments which have legal force.

There is no doubt that legal processes and the practice of the legal profession have contributed a great deal towards the establishment and the safeguarding of human rights, and that lawyers have an important role to play in this regard.