Here’s one for the diary. On Monday 12 November, come to work prepared to doff footwear in public. Whatever the weather. Toes, ankles and soles are to be bared on the birthday of blind Chinese human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng.

On ‘barefoot lawyer day’ solicitors, barristers, legal executives, paralegals, students and the judiciary are invited to remove shoes, socks and tights for five minutes and take a photograph as a record for posting on Twitter at tweetlawfeet or on the Facebook page of the same name. The barefoot campaign, which is supported by the Law Society’s human rights committee, is the brainchild of St Ives Chambers barrister Jason Hadden. He says: ‘We are calling for an international human rights day to press governments worldwide to allow lawyers to do their jobs in safety.

Governments, including our own, are keeping very quiet, perhaps because of a conflict between commercial interests and what everybody recognises as a gross violation of international law. A show of solidarity by lawyers from across the globe might persuade those in authority to rethink their policies and let lawyers practise without fearing for their lives or liberty.’