The taught modules offered on the LLM programme vary from year to year. Please check the full list of taught modules list for details of modules running in specific academic years. We make every effort to ensure that every module will be offered, but modules are subject to change and cancellation. You are therefore advised to check this site regularly for further updates throughout the year preceding entry to the LLM programme.
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW (LAWSG030)
Credit value: 30 credits (12 ECTS) |
Module Convenor:
Dr Kimberley Trapp |
| Intercollegiate teaching: No |
| Teaching Method: 20 x two-hour seminars |
| Who may enrol: LLM students, SIL students |
| Prerequisites: None |
| Barred module combinations: None |
| Core module for specialism: International Law, Human Rights Law |
| Assessment |
| Practice Assessment: Students may write up tutorial questions and submit them as formative assessment / exam practice |
| Assessment method for LLM students: 3-hour unseen written examination |
| Assessment method for SIL students: 3,000 word coursework essay |
| Module Overview |
Module summary
This module surveys the international law on the protection of human rights. Part I, or the ‘general’ part, covers the historical evolution of human rights law, its sources, the various systems for the protection of human rights, whether universal or regional, and explores the scope of application of international human rights norms, as well as tensions between international human rights law and other rules of international law. It thus discusses very topical questions of extraterritorial application of human rights obligations, and of conflict with Security Council ‘counter-terrorist’ sanctions. The ‘special’ part, Part II, discusses in detail specific substantive first generation rights, and explores the substance of economic, social, and cultural rights. |
Module syllabus
1) Introduction
PART I – General Part
(2) The Traditional Protection of the Individual under International Law
(3) The Emergence of Human Rights: Three Generations
(4) Sources of International Human Rights Law
(5) The UN System of Human Rights Protection: Charter- and Treaty-based
(6) Regional Systems of Human Rights Protection I: The European system(s)
(7) Regional Systems of Human Rights Protection II: The American and African Systems
(8) The Scope of Human Rights Protection and Extraterritoriality
(9) Conflicts with other Norms of International Law I: The Law of Armed Conflict
(10) Conflicts with other Norms of International Law II: Article 103 UN Charter
PART II – Special Part
(11) Right to Life
(12) Prohibition of Torture and (other) Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment
(13) Non-refoulement / Protection against Wrongful Transfers
(14) Right to Liberty and Security
(15) Right to a Fair Trial
(16) Freedom of Conscience, Religion, and Belief
(17) Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination
(18) Self-Determination
(19) Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
(20) General Revision
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Recommended materials
As this module is very much based on primary sources, there is no set textbook. Students are required to have frequent access to primary materials, most of which are freely available online. A useful collection can be found in Sandy Ghandhi (ed) Blackstone’s International Human Rights Documents (7th ed Oxford UP 2010); for students that definitely wish to consult a general textbook, Daniel Moeckli, Sangeeta Shah, and Sandesh Sivakumaran (eds) International Human Rights Law (Oxford UP 2010) is recommended. |
Preliminary reading
Students who have not taken any general module in Public International Law before are strongly advised to read a general textbook in advance of commencing the course. A concise and elegant textbook is Vaughan Lowe, International Law (Oxford UP 2007).
Other students may wish to read Part A (chapters 1 and 2) of Steiner, Alston and Goodman, above, and to have a look at relevant entries in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Oxford UP, available online [subscription or institutional access required] at www.mpepil.com).
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| Other information: N/A |
| Prizes for this module: There are currently no prizes available for this module. |
