International Human Rights Law

Module overview

International human rights law is an essential part of international law. Human rights represent an important legal tool for empowering the most vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals and social groups, as well as promoting social, global and environmental justice, and sustainable development. Human rights, however, still remain severely violated all over the world and require the elaboration of efficient mechanisms for their respect, protection, and fulfillment at national, regional, and international levels. The module introduces to the most important and topical issues surrounding international human rights law. It addresses problems of normative bases, right-holders, various types of human rights, corresponding territorial and extraterritorial obligations of states and non-state actors, and international and regional mechanisms of human rights protection. It also explores the role of human rights in solving pressing global problems, including social, global and environmental injustice, obstacles to sustainable development, and colonisation. This module is aimed at laying the foundation for future advanced studies of, or work in, the field of human rights. It is designed for you to understand the pillars of international human rights law; to gain substantial knowledge of key human rights instruments, institutions, and practices; and to acquire a set of specific and transferable skills necessary for your successful career as a lawyer.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

be able to articulate and defend your position in contemporary legal debates concerning human rights;
be able to analsze various sources of international human rights law and relevant academic literature;
apply legal rules and principles studied on the module to factual scenarios.

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

have a good knowledge of the main ideas, trends, dilemmas, and challenges underlying international human rights law as well as be familiar with major directions of human rights’ critique and various strategies of human rights’ justification;
have a substantial knowledge of international and regional human rights’ normative framework, institutions, and practices;
understand human rights’ potential and limitations in addressing issues of global and local justice.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

demonstrate skills of self-management including an ability to reflect on the content and quality of your own work;
make critical judgments about international materials and relevant literature.
formulate an effectively reasoned and structured argument supported by appropriate references;

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include: 1) Lectures that provide you with knowledge and information within a structured context. Reading of normative documents, case law, and research literature is required in preparation. 2) Tutorials which presuppose that you complete individual or group tasks and/or prepare answers to a list of questions supplied in advance. They allow you to maximise your performance in the summative assessments. Learning activities include: • Directed reading, assisted by lists of required and further reading and (sometimes) availability of materials on Blackboard; • Access to, and work with, electronic resources in the form of international law instruments, case law, and academic literature; • Legal analysis of various sources; • Tackling and solving factual problems of international human rights law; • Formulating and presenting in oral form (through class participation) and in written form (assessed essay) reasoned and structured arguments; • Group work; • Debates; • Mini-presentations on selected topics; • Commenting on other students’ presentations; • Formulating questions to module guests - human rights scholars and practitioners; • Completion of summative assessment.

Study time
Type	Hours
Completion of assessment task	16
Lecture	20
Preparation for scheduled sessions	70
Follow-up work	7
Tutorial	8
Revision	29
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Blackboard. All reading lists/ lecture hand-outs etc. are made available via Blackboard.

Electronic Resources. The module implies extensive use of electronically available resources – journal articles available via ‘Heinonline’, international treaty texts available from the UN’s website, cases from legal databases/institutions’ websites.

Textbooks

Ilas Bantekas, Lutz Oette (2020). International Human Rights Law and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ilias Bantekas, Lutz Oette (2024). International Human Rights Law and Practice. CUP.

Louis Henkin, et al. (2009). Human Rights. New York, NY: Thomson Reuters/Foundation Press.

Olivier De Schutter (2019). International Human Rights Law: Cases, Materials, Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Philip Alston, Ryan Goodman (2013). International Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Assessment

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Essay or problem question

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback: You will receive individual written feedback on your answer, an invitation to meet with the tutor who marked their work during office hour, and group written feedback (prepared by the module leader) via the module blackboard site.
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework	100%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Coursework	100%