Human Rights Protection

General information

Type:	OBL	Curs:	4	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	4 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
Year 4	Knut Traisbach	Sociedad, Política y Sostenibilidad	ENG

Prerequisites

All students from the programme are welcome. A good command of English is necessary.
I will suppose that all students have a basic knowledge of public international law, international organizations (especially the UN) and the role of legal norms in international governance based on previous courses. Reading daily news, especially the European and international sections, is a prerequisite for the course as we will also discuss current affairs.

Previous Knowledge

I will suppose that all students have a basic knowledge of public international law, international organizations (especially the UN) and the role of legal norms in international governance based on previous courses.

Workload distribution

Lectures / Participatory Activities: 45-50% approx.
Independent work: 50-55% approx.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

Human rights have become a central pillar of the international order and are enshrined as fundamental rights in most constitutional states. The course is an introduction to international human rights protection with reference to governance approaches, public international law and international politics. We will start with a short overview over the historical development and the nature of human rights. We then move towards the discussion of the relevant actors, mechanisms for the protection, compliance and enforcement as well as the critique of human rights. A central theme of the course is the understanding of human rights as real enforceable legal rights that pertain to all kinds of professional practices, including law firms, the corporate world and politics.

Course Learning Objectives

After the course, students should be able to
- explain the basic structure of the supranational system(s) for the protection of human rights;
- recognize the different underlying concepts and perspectives when reading text books, cases or current affairs;
- critically analyse the different perspectives and their influence on how we perceive actors, rule making and subject matters in the area of human rights and global governance;
- organize and adapt their arguments in a professional argumentation, according to different underlying perspectives/values of human rights;
- be able to apply arguments based on human rights to legal analysis and policy advice.

CONTENT

1. Session 1: The Notion of Human Rights and Key Actors Central questions: Where do human rights come from? What do these rights mean? Are there different meanings of these rights? How are human rights related to international humanitarian law and international criminal law? Who are the central actors in the field of human rights? Do all actors have the same relevance? Who might be missing?
2. Session 2: The UN System I Central questions: What are the central normative human rights regimes on the international level? What are the central international institutions? Which reform initiatives exist?
3. Session 3: The UN System II Central questions: What are the key competencies and functions of the Human Rights Council, the treaty monitoring bodies and the Offices of High Commissioners? How do these institutional mechanisms interact?
4. Session 4: Regional Systems I: Inter-American and African Systems Central questions: Which regional human rights systems exist in the world? What are their advantages and disadvantages when compared to the international and the domestic level? How have they contributed to international human rights protection?
5. Session 5: Regional Systems II: The Council of Europe in detail Central questions: How did the system of the Council of Europe develop? What are the main institutional actors? What are the key characteristics of the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Social Charter? How does the European Court of Human Rights apply and interpret the European Convention of Human Rights?
6. Session 6: Compliance, Enforcement and Measuring Central questions: What are the problems and challenges in compliance with human rights? Which reform proposals are discussed to increase effectiveness and compliance? How can strategic litigation contribute to the realization of human rights? What are human rights indicators and why are they important?
7. Session 7: International Humanitarian Law - or - Human Rights and Protection of the Environment This session will either deal with the basics of International Humanitarian Law (Law of War) or, alternatively, human rights and protection of the environment
8. Session 8: Human Rights, Development and Inequality Central questions: How are development and human rights related? What are the different notions of development? What is inequality and how can it be measured? How, if at all, can human rights contribute to the reduction of inequality?
9. Session 9: Corporations and Human Rights Central questions: Do corporations have to respect human rights? What international initiatives exist to increase compliance with human rights by multi-national enterprises? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the existing approaches?
10. Session 10: International Criminal Law How has the criminal responsibility of individuals for the most horrendous crimes developed? What does it entail? Is international criminal justice an "effective" means to enforce human rights?

1. Session 1: The Notion of Human Rights and Key Actors

Central questions: Where do human rights come from? What do these rights mean? Are there different meanings of these rights? How are human rights related to international humanitarian law and international criminal law? Who are the central actors in the field of human rights? Do all actors have the same relevance? Who might be missing?

2. Session 2: The UN System I

Central questions: What are the central normative human rights regimes on the international level? What are the central international institutions? Which reform initiatives exist?

3. Session 3: The UN System II

Central questions: What are the key competencies and functions of the Human Rights Council, the treaty monitoring bodies and the Offices of High Commissioners? How do these institutional mechanisms interact?

4. Session 4: Regional Systems I: Inter-American and African Systems

Central questions: Which regional human rights systems exist in the world? What are their advantages and disadvantages when compared to the international and the domestic level? How have they contributed to international human rights protection?

5. Session 5: Regional Systems II: The Council of Europe in detail

Central questions: How did the system of the Council of Europe develop? What are the main institutional actors? What are the key characteristics of the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Social Charter? How does the European Court of Human Rights apply and interpret the European Convention of Human Rights?

6. Session 6: Compliance, Enforcement and Measuring

Central questions: What are the problems and challenges in compliance with human rights? Which reform proposals are discussed to increase effectiveness and compliance? How can strategic litigation contribute to the realization of human rights? What are human rights indicators and why are they important?

7. Session 7: International Humanitarian Law - or - Human Rights and Protection of the Environment

This session will either deal with the basics of International Humanitarian Law (Law of War) or, alternatively, human rights and protection of the environment

8. Session 8: Human Rights, Development and Inequality

Central questions: How are development and human rights related? What are the different notions of development? What is inequality and how can it be measured? How, if at all, can human rights contribute to the reduction of inequality?

9. Session 9: Corporations and Human Rights

Central questions: Do corporations have to respect human rights? What international initiatives exist to increase compliance with human rights by multi-national enterprises? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the existing approaches?

10. Session 10: International Criminal Law

How has the criminal responsibility of individuals for the most horrendous crimes developed? What does it entail? Is international criminal justice an "effective" means to enforce human rights?

Methodology

Class sessions will consist of lectures, debates (with the entire class and within smaller groups) and assignments. The sessions will be devoted to learning, challenging and applying the different concepts of human rights presented during the course. Analysis of cases will give you the opportunity of applying the concepts to real world situations and will allow you to test your understanding and knowledge with other class members.

ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Description	%
Assignments	30
Attendance and active participation (debate, discussion)	15
Final exam	40
In-class activities/controls	15

Assessment criteria

Evaluation of student work will be weighed in the following manner:

Attendance and active class participation 30%
- Attendance
- Active Participation during sessions
- Submitted activities/assignments during sessions

Continuous Assessments 30%
- Assignment about the UN system for the the protection of human rights
- Assignment about the regional system of the Council of Europe

Final Exam 40 %
Students need to achieve at least a grade of 4 out of 10 points in the final exam in order to pass the course.

Late submissions of assignments will not be accepted, unless an exception has been requested and granted before the deadline.

Students can participate in the final exam only if they have attended at least 80% of classes (8 out of 10 sessions, 120 minutes each). The resit exam requires a attendance of at least 50% of classes (5 out of 10 sessions, 120 minutes each).
In case students cannot attend a class, they must inform the Programme Direction and the professor by email in advance and provide the necessary justification (e.g. medical certificate). Accepted reasons for class absence include illness, major life events (e.g. births and deaths), ESADE activities for which the student has the written approval from the Program Direction.
Other events that can be scheduled at another time (e.g. personal trips, job interviews, doctor's appointments etc.) will not be accepted as a justified reasons of absence.

In case of unforeseen events that affect the teaching activities, the teaching schedule and the teaching guide may be modified to address the situation.

Bibliography

Michael Goodhart (ed), Human Rights: Politics and Practice (3rd edn, Oxford University Press 2016).
Ilias Bantekas and Lutz Oette, International Human Rights Law and Practice (3rd edn, Cambridge University Press 2020).
Philip Alston and Ryan Goodman, International Human Rights (Oxford University Press 2012).
Olivier De Schutter, International Human Rights Law (3rd edn, Cambridge University Press 2019).
Daniel Moeckli, Sangeeta Shah and Sandesh Sivakumaran (eds), International Human Rights Law (3rd edn, Oxford University Press 2017).
Rhona K. M. Smith, International Human Rights Law (9th edn, Oxford University Press 2019).

Timetable and sections

Group	Teacher	Department
Year 4	Knut Traisbach	Sociedad, Política y Sostenibilidad

Timetable Year 4

From 2023/1/9 to 2023/1/27:
From Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 12:00. (Except: 2023/1/27)
Each Friday from 9:15 to 12:30. (Except: 2023/1/13 and 2023/1/20)

Human Rights Protection (2225.YR.005397.1)