Module LAW3151: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Department: LAW

LAW3151: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Prerequisites

• Public Law (LAW1013) OR a suitable module from another Department.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide an introduction to the achievements and prospects for protecting human rights in international law
• To provide an understanding of the sources of the international law of human rights and the legal nature of its rules
• To provide an appreciation of the different roles of States and of universal international organisaitions within the international human rights law project
• To provide an introduction to the international mechanisms on a universal level for the protection of human rights and to do so through an examination of the protection of one or two specific human rights;
• To provide an understanding of the role of international criminal law in securing the protection of human rights
• To provide an understanding of why the realisation on the international human rights project, especially in relation to structural violations of human rights, is so difficult.

Content

• Introduction: the idea of human rights; the international legal protection of human rights. International law and the individual: diplomatic protection; refugee law; human rights.
• State action and the protection of human rights: constitutional protection; national courts and foreign violations; humanitarian intervention.
• UN and the protection of human rights: standard-setting; implementation; enforcement.
• Treaty-mechanisms for the protection of human rights, esp International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• Specific human rights, eg non-discrimination, torture ??? standard-setting; implementation; enforcement. 6. International criminal law: offences; courts; co-operation; immunities and amnesties etc.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate an understanding of the legal basis and the elementary content of the substantive and procedural international law of human rights.

• Students should be able to:
• Apply the law to factual scenarios, in either judicial or adversarial roles
• Write both descriptively and critically about the institutions for the protection of human rights by international law
• Show an appreciation of the impact of political factors on the realisation of the international human rights project.
• Demonstrate a sound international legal technique as applied to situations which may be approached from other perspectives, such as the moral or the political
• Discuss in an informed manner what have been the achievements of the international human rights law project and what are the obstacles in the way of further progress
• Conduct the elementary, independent research appropriate to an undergraduate module.

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate developed written and analytical skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The course will be taught in six self-contained elements, each consisting of four lectures and a tutorial. The elements will be related specifically to the overall aims of the course and to each other. The tutorials will mainly consist of the analysis of primary materials and the identification of the policy issues which they reveal. Students will write two formative essays of 1500/2000 words on which there will be specific advice and a general statement of what was expected. The examination will be a two-hour, written, unseen examination with 15 minutes reading time. Students will be allowed to take in a published collection of primary materials and may be provided with further documentary matter. They will answer one problem to carry 40% of the marks and two essays, each to carry 30%. .

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

2 essays, 1500 words max

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University