Sceptical Essays on Human Rights : Oxford University Press : 9780199246687 : 0199246688 : 20 Dec 2001 : Britain's Human Rights Act 1998 is the latest in a wave of legislative and constitutional instruments that have been passed in a number of countries (including Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) and which put human rights at the top of the public law agenda. For the most part these instruments are widely welcomed by senior judges and by academic and practicing lawyers, many of whom will have campaigned for their introduction. There are, however, very considerable doubts about the wisdom of these developments within the democratic tradition of government which remain unanswered. This collection of 20 essays written by an array of internationally prestigious scholars explores these reservations. All the contributors endorse the importance of human rights within any democratic system of government, but question whether the primary responsibility for the articulation of these rights