AFRESH and timely look at the whole field of human rights, especially in the light of the latest terrorist prosecutions and Gordon Brown's difficulties with anti-terror legislation.

Griffin adroitly picks his way through this judicial and moral minefield in which a person's perception of a "human right" can be condemned as a crime by someone of a different political or religious background. It is the drawing of the line that is the difficult point and even in liberal democracies the line can be shifted by changing circumstances or perceived threats to a particular country. While human rights pose problems for philosophers, political theorists, jurisprudence, international lawyers, activists and the like, many "ordinary" people in this country are concerned by the way the state is increasingly taking away their rights while defending those of yobs and criminals.

The intellectual battle is still being fought, but the battle at street level has been lost in nearly all respects.