Payam Akhavan teaches international law at McGill University and has worked in and appeared at international courts in The Hague. In the 2014 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture, Payam Akhavan argues that our world needs more than laws and legal niceties: it has to be built on empathy. The Vancouver Human Rights Lecture is presented by The Laurier Institution and UBC Continuing Studies, in partnership with alumni UBC.