International human rights law (terms 1 and 2)

The course covers the international law of human rights. The first half of the course deals with theory, the history and nature of human rights obligations, international and regional enforcement mechanisms and general issues such as the concept of ‘jurisdiction’ and human rights in emergency situations. The second half of the course deals with substantive rights, covering both civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights.

The course aims: to enable students to familiarize themselves with the core principles of the international law on human rights; to develop students’ critical faculties through an evaluation of the rules, policies, and principles of this area of international law; to develop students’ analytical faculties through identifying and attempting to resolve legal problems relating to the subject matter.

By the end of the course, students should: be proficient in understanding and applying the relevant areas of international law; have an appreciation of the underlying issues of policy at stake and how they mediate, and are mediated by, the legal framework; have a more sophisticated understanding of, and aptitude for, the law in general

Assessment: one course paper, up to 8,000 words