THE Lord Chancellor will announce a campaign today to defend human rights laws and to ensure that policymakers apply them correctly.

He will tell an audience of lawyers that the Government is unashamed and unembarrassed about the Human Rights Act. Politicians and media who attack human rights attack us all, he will say.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton is frustrated at what he sees as the flawed interpretation of the legislation by some officials.

Over the next few weeks his department will issue two guides on how the Act should be used. One will be for managers across public sector bodies in areas such as health, education, prisons and probation. The other will be for policymakers in Whitehall.

The Lord Chancellor will use a speech at the London School of Economics tonight to press the case for human rights “passionately and defiantly”.

He will say: “We intend to mount a campaign for human rights — human rights not just for oppressed minorities, but for everyone.

“We will campaign for human rights, campaign passionately and campaign de- fiantly.

“Human rights express our values — our values of democracy, of tolerance, individual freedom and of the rule of law.

“Human rights are the means for us all to live our lives, freely: free from prejudice, free from fear and free from terror.

“When human rights are attacked, then we are all attacked. Those who attack human rights, whether they are our opponents in politics, or our opponents in the media, attack our values and attack us all. Now is the time to attack the attacks. Now is the time to stand up for our values. Now is the time to stand up for human rights.”

The speech to the Human Rights Lawyers’ Association will be the first in a series of speeches to be given by the Lord Chancellor about the Government’s human rights programme.

A Department for Constitutional Affairs spokeswoman said: “The emphasis is on balancing the right of individuals against the rights of society.”

On Wednesday the Lord Chancellor will give a speech at Georgetown University, Washington, on Anglo-US relations, counter-terrorism, and human rights. Over the next few weeks the department will publish the third edition of its guide to the Human Rights Act, as well as the two new guides.

The spokeswoman said: “This is in the context of misunderstandings of the Act by public service managers.”

Examples are understood to include decisions by parole boards to release offenders, and the belief held by some teachers that they are not able to discipline children.

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