The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 60 years on Public Law, April 2009, 205–17

A cast of fi ve ghosts assembled before me to give their verdict on the last 60 years. First up was Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the US president. As the fi rst chair of the fl edgling United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights, 2 she drove the process that led the United Nations (UN) to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Her role in drafting the declaration is sometimes overstated, but it would probably never have seen the light of day without her. Eleanor clearly fi tted her own description of a woman as “like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water”.