The course covers the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the international protection of human rights, their sources of law, including universal and regional monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, and their scope of application and challenges. The final part of the course will be focused on case studies that students have to present in class.
The students ATTENDING the course can submit a written report on a concrete case that the teacher will indicate at the beginning of the class and present it in class. They will also answer two short questions on the general part of the course orally. Alternatively, they can take the exam on the basis of the notes of the lectures and the material made available on the Moodle electronic platform.
The students NON-ATTENDING the course have to prepare for the exam on the textook by Daniel Moeckli and others, "International Human Rights Law", Oxford University Press, last edition, limited to the following chapters: 1-4, 6-10, 14-16, 19-23, 30-32.
Learning Objectives
The course offers the elements necessary to critically appraise the history of and main theories about human rights, their sources of law, categories and scope of protection. By the end of the course students will be able to identify and analyse the case law of different international bodies and enforcement mechanisms.
Prerequisites
Students must have already taken at least 6 ECTS in International Law
Teaching Methods
The course is based on lectures and is supported by PPT slides, which will be uploaded on the Moodle platform, together with reading materials. In the final part of the course, students may prepare presentations of specific cases indicated by the lecturer, which are closely connected to the topics studied and discussed in the first part of the course.
Further information
The course will be held in the second semester (2 March - 18 May 2023)
Type of Assessment
The students who have attended the course and submitted a written report and presented it orally in class, will be evaluated on the basis of that report and presentation as well as two oral questions on the course programme. Alternatively, attending students may sit for a written exam according to the modalities required for non attending students.
Non attending students have to pass a written exam, which consists in answering three open questions and will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- level of knowledge of the topic
- capacity to critically analyse the topic
- capacity to make connections between different topics
- appropriateness of the language used
Course program
Topic 1: Introduction to the course
Topic 2: History and Theory of Human Rights
Topic 3: Sources of International Human Rights Law
Topic 4: Nature and Scope of Obligations
Topic 5: The United Nations System of Human Rights Protection
Topic 6: The European System of Human Rights Protection
Topic 7: Methodology in International Human Rights Law
Topic 8: Civil and Political Rights
Topic 9: Property Rights
Topic 10: Self-Determination
Topic 11: Equality and Non-Discrimination
Topic 12: Freedom of Religion
Topic 13: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Topic 14: Right to Health
Topic 15: Right to Adequate Standard of Living – Right to Water, Right to Food
Topic 16: Cultural Rights
Topic 17: Women’s Rights
Topic 18: Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
Topic 19: Environmental Rights
Topic 20. Presentation of reports and Laboratory for exam preparation
Sustainable Development Goals 2030
This course contributes to the realization of the UN objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development