But will it save the Human Rights Act?
A video by lobbying group RightsInfo that explores “everything you need to know about human rights” in just two minutes has racked up nearly 30,000 views on YouTube and 40,000 views on Facebook in a week — which is quite a tally for a law-themed clip.
Created by young One Crown Office Row human rights barrister Adam Wagner, RightsInfo is described as:
[A] space [where] anyone can come and learn about human rights, and have fun doing it.
Now that we are approaching what Wagner describes as a “crunch point” in our human rights history — the Tory government is desperate to scrap the Human Rights Act (HRA) and replace it with a British “Bill of Rights” — RightsInfo is keen to keep the debate rolling. The rookie barrister explains:
I want RightsInfo to improve public understanding of human rights and inspire people to talk about human rights in a different way.
The video (embedded above) — entitled ‘Human Rights Explained In A Beautiful Two Minute Animation’ — has been praised by a number of prolific legal figures since it went live on 14 October.
Colin Yeo, a public law barrister at Garden Court Chambers, described it as “excellent”, while legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg and human rights advocate Bianca Jagger also tweeted their support.
Human Rights Explained In One Beautiful Two Minute Animation. We must protect the #HumanRightsAct https://t.co/2jII3ZyuL2
— Bianca Jagger (@BiancaJagger) October 20, 2015
The RightsInfo video comes as a host of other barristers from Doughty Street Chambers, another human rights set, have banded together to crowdfund a campaign to ‘Act for the Act’. It has seen ads backing the Human Rights Act appear all over the Tube and, most recently, on billboards in London.
#ActfortheAct billboards in Hackney! Great to see such important stories being told. @martina_baines @actfortheact pic.twitter.com/FaSYYlNdDK
— CaoilfhionnGallagher (@caoilfhionnanna) October 21, 2015
Yet there is concern that the movement to ditch the HRA being led by Lord Chancellor Michael Gove — a skilled communicator who began his career as a journalist — may be gaining traction.
Notably, last weekend the left-leaning The Independent newspaper, which has previously supported the HRA, ran an editorial “In defence of Michael Gove’s plans” for a Bill of Rights that surprised many observers of the debate.