Module LAW3148 for 2016/7
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
LAW3148: European Convention on Human Rights: Theory and Practice
This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.
Module Aims
With this 30 credit module, you will develop a solid knowledge of ECHR law as well as critical analysis of human rights case law and systems of protection in Europe. It will also give you a valuable insight into the complexity of how European law develops and the ability to form an overall and critical understanding of this system of protection unique in the world as well as a detailed knowledge of some of the most fundamental human rights for the twenty-first century. In terms of employment opportunities, the module is addressed to:
- Any student who wishes to open up new intellectual and career horizons;
- Students who wish to work for international organisations, non-governmental organisations or public bodies;
- Future barristers and solicitors who wish to practice in the field of human rights or are thinking of working on pro-bono missions;
- And students who wish to embrace an academic career.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate detailed understanding of the nature and practice of ECHR human rights norms and mechanisms of protection; 2. Demonstrate solid understanding and critical awareness of the relationships between the European and (selected) Member States systems of protection of human rights; 3. Demonstrate detailed and critical understanding of techniques and strategies of human rights argumentation and judicial reasoning); 4. Demonstrate ability to identify, explain, critically evaluate, and compare key issues in ECHR law; 5. Demonstrate ability to critically assess the content and practice of ECHR human rights norms, by reference to standards of democracy; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 6. Demonstrate ability to select, synthesise and critically assess human rights normative provisions and their application by courts; 7. Demonstrate ability to apply legal knowledge to a problem question or case study and to suggest a conclusion supported by relevant arguments; |
Personal and Key Skills | 8. Demonstrate ability to present, coherently and reflectively, orally and in writing, relevant legal and theoretical arguments; and 9. Demonstrate ability to work independently and in team, and to manage time efficiently in preparing for scheduled learning activities, exercises and assessments. 10. Demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Although the module’s coverage may vary each year it is envisaged that it will include the following topics:
- Introduction to human rights law and to the ECHR
- Introduction to UK Human Rights Act
- Substantive rights (e.g. the right to life, prohibition of torture or prohibition of slavery, privacy, freedom of expression)
- Procedural rights (e.g. the right to a fair trial, the right to an effective remedy)
- Techniques and problems of rights interpretation (e.g. margin of appreciation, proportionality, living instrument doctrine)
- The ECHR in Europe, its relationships with the European Union and with selected Member States
- Critical issues on the ECHR and European democracy
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
53 | 247 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Learning and Teaching activities | 44 | 22 x 2h Lectures |
Learning and Teaching activities | 9 | Workshops - 6 x 1.5hr (3 per term) which will involve student-led individual and group work, with guidance and intervention from a tutor |
Guided independent study | 120 | Individual reading and lecture preparation |
Guided independent study | 37 | Workshop preparation |
Guided independent study | 10 | Formative assessment |
Guided independent study | 80 | Summative assessment |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/
Web based and electronic resources:
Human rights documents and materials: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/
European Convention on Human Rights website: http://human-rights-convention.org/
European Court of Human Rights website: http://www.echr.coe.int/
Council of Europe website: http://www.echr.coe.int
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Workshop presentations based on team work | About 5 minutes/presentation | 1-10 | Oral feedback from the tutor in class |
Voluntary individual mock examination | One hour students will be given an essay question or similar exercise to answer in self-imposed examination conditions | 1-10 | Oral feedback with the whole group and written comments on individual draft introduction submitted to tutor |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
0 | 100 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Examination | 100 | 3 hours | 1-10 | Written comments on exam papers and possibility of face to face meeting with tutor. General written feedback to the whole class posted on ELE. |
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
3 hour Examination | 3 hour Examination | 1-10 | At the standard period of re-assessment, i.e. August. |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
R White, C A Robin and C Ovey, Jacobs, White & Ovey The European Convention on Human Rights, Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2014 (Or latest edition as available).
D J Harris,M O'Boyle and C Warbrick et al, Harris, O'Boyle & Warbrick, Law of the European Convention on Human Rights, Third Edition, Oxford: OUP, 2014 (Or latest edition as available).
Janis, Kay and Bradley, European Human Rights Law, 3rd ed, OUP 2008 (Or latest edition as available).
A Mowbray, Cases and Materials on the European Convention on Human Rights, Third Edition, OUP, 2012 (Or latest edition as available).
E Bates, The Evolution of the ECHR, OUP, 2010 (Or latest edition as available).
Keller and Stone (eds), A Europe of Rights, The Impact of the ECHR on National Legal Systems, OUP, 2008 (Or latest edition as available).
S Greer, ECHR, Achievements, Problems and Prospects, CUP, 2008 (Or latest edition as available).
G Letsas, A Theory of Interpretation of the ECHR, OUP, 2007 (Or latest edition as available).
C Grabenwarter (ed), The ECHR, A Commentary, Hart Publishing, 2013 (Or latest edition as available).
P Halstead, Unlocking Human Rights, 2nd edition Routledge, 2014