Human rights complaints attract a great deal of public interest, but what is going on below the surface? When people contact a human rights lawyer, how do they think about and use human rights discourse? How are complaints turned into cases? Can administrative systems be both effective and fair? Defining Rights and Wrongs investigates the day-to-day practices of low-level officials and intermediaries as they construct domestic human rights complaints. It identifies the values that a human rights system should uphold if it is to promote mutual respect and foster the personal dignity and equal rights of citizens.

Rosanna L. Langer's profile page

Rosanna L. Langer is an assistant professor in the Law and Justice Department at Laurentian University.

It is a short book … but one which punches beyond its weight … She firmly grounds the debate about human rights and their domestic enforcement in her analysis of the empirical data and the social reality of public administration … Her book is an admirable and pithy contribution which offers much to those interested in human rights, discrimination, public administration and administrative justice.

Law and Politics Book Review, Vol. 18, No.4