Course Overview

Despite the decades since the adoption of the UDHR and despite the proliferation of treaties, international human rights bodies, and activism, human rights abuses persist in the world. This course aims to introduce participants to various contemporary human rights issues, including the main features of the international normative framework, the strengths and flaws of the international monitoring mechanisms, and selected human rights topics such as citizenship and participation, women’s rights, children’s rights, prohibition of discrimination, freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, and other issues of the day.

The course starts with a short introduction to the origins and key concepts of human rights law, as well as the overiew of the normative framework, then it goes on to investigate the challenges stemming from the implementation and the compliance gap. This part of the classes will also explore the institutional weaknesses of the international human rights bodies, including the scarce human resources, increasing workload, independence, and impartiality of the members of these bodies. Finally, the course explores issues of specific interest under contemporary human rights law. In addition to substantive knowledge of human rights, participants will develop analytical and critical thinking and independent research skills.

Although  the topics are necessarily law-related, the course will assume no prior exposure to legal studies.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to the following:

• Develop the ability to interpret human rights treaties
• Be able to think critically about complex concepts and topics
• Master a basic understanding of some of the key contemporary challenges in international human rights
• Develop the ability to critically reflect on and effectively communicate their reflections on human rights issues
• Critically assess the work of human rights protection mechanisms, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of mechanisms
• Undertake independent research
• Develop presentation skills
• Improve their ability to think critically, engage in complex reasoning, and formulate arguments in defence of a position
• Develop individual opinions and arguments and communicate the outputs in oral form to their peers

Course Content

Part One: Introduction

• Origins of human rights
• Normative framework: universal and regional human rights treaties

 

Part Two: Implementation, Compliance, Monitoring

• Transposition of international obligations into domestic law
• Compliance deficit
• Enforcement of human rights treaty commitments: international and regional protection mechanisms

 

Part Three: Substantive Challenges

A range of current legal, interdisciplinary, and practical perspectives such as

• Death penalty
• Freedom of expression
• Equality and non-discrimination
• Women’s rights
• Sexual and reproductive rights
• Domestic violence
• The rights of LGBTQI persons
• Rights of older people
• Citizenship and participation
• Religion and belief
• Human rights defenders and activists

(Flexible; will be adapted to new developments and the participants’ specific interest)

Instructional Method

Material for this course will be presented using multiple teaching approaches, depending on the developmental level of the students and the subject matter to be presented. These techniques will include lectures enhanced by the use of supportive materials such as slides, illustrations, and videos; and classroom discussions with the aim to contribute to the exchange of opinions and perspectives, as well as to engage students in a more intensive treatment of the subject matter. The course will to a large extent rely on activities, as human rights are easy to connect to the concerns and points of view of young adults. Through these activities, participants will learn about their rights and the rights of others, within a participatory and interactive learning framework.

Required Course Materials

There is a vast literature on human rights. Further readings and questions will be posted in due course. As a reference, the sources below may be useful.

 

RELEVANT CHAPTERS FROM THE FOLLOWING BOOKS

• Shelton (ed), The Oxford Handbook of International Human Rights Law (Oxford, 2015)
• Katz Cogan, I. Hurd, I. Johnstone (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations (Oxford, 2016)
• P.R. Romano, K.J. Alter, Y. Shany (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Adjudication (Oxford, 2015)
• Rhona K. M. Smith, International Human Rights Law (8th ed., Oxford, 2018)
• Daniel Moeckli, Sangeeta Shah and Sandesh Sivakumaran (eds), International Human Rights Law (3rd ed., Oxford, 2018)
• A. Sicilianos, M.A. Kostopoulou, The Individual Application Under the European Convention on Human Rights: Procedural Guide (Primento Digital Publishing, 2019)
• M. Buckley, K. Kamber, P. McCormick, with contribution of D. J. Harris, The European Convention on Human Rights – Principles and Law (2022)

 

OTHER SOURCES

• Decisions of the various international human rights tribunals (e.g., Human Rights Committee, European Court of Human Rights, Court of Justice of the European Union) available on their websites
• Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law [https://opil.ouplaw.com/home/mpil ]
• Knowledge Sharing platform of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR-KS), https://ks.echr.coe.int/en/web/echr-ks/
• Scholarly blogs, e.g:

https://strasbourgobservers.com/

https://www.echrblog.com/

https://www.ejiltalk.org/category/human-rights/

Assessment

Participants’ assessment will be carried out using a variety of methods, including reflection on issues of concern, problem solving exercises, presentations, and group work. The actual methods depend to a large extent on the developmental level and the number of participants. Therefore, students will be assessed on (i) their presentations, (ii) team work, and (iii) class activity. The grading is based on the assessment scheme of the host institution.