Feature

David Maxwell Fyfe: The Man Who Enshrined Human Rights In UK Law

Institutions
David Maxwell Fyfe.

 

Who was David Maxwell Fyfe?

The idea of human rights have been building for hundreds of years, to not just say that people have the right to life, the right to freedom of religion, to freedom from slavery, freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of speech, but to enshrine those rights in law. The man responsible for enshrining these rights in British law was David Maxwell Fyfe, a Conservative politician who prosecuted Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trials and helped create the European Convention on Human Rights after World War Two. 

After Nuremberg, the international community came together and created the European Convention on Human Rights. It was the first time in history where all the things a person needs to be free were written down and protected by law.

1 October marks the anniversary of the end of the Nuremberg war crimes trials.

Our friends at the Met Film School MA Programme have made a brilliant short film for us telling the forgotten story of David Maxwell Fyfe. Enjoy!