Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM671: International Human Rights Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover the following topics in the order indicated:

Nature and Development of Human Rights in International Law
Global standard–setting
Regional standard-setting
Legal accountability for Human Rights I – Interpretation
Legal accountability for Human Rights II – Human Rights Treaty Bodies
Responses to gross violations – responsibility to protect
UN Charter-Based Supervision
Emerging Challenges – The Role of Non-State actors
Reporting from Treaty Body observation and wrap up

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
36	264	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	3	Three-hour lecture which will introduce the subject matter of the module and will provide the foundation for guided independent study.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	33	11 x three hour lecturer-led seminars. You will be expected to make at least one presentation during the course of the seminar programme.
Guided independent study	80	Reading assignments
Guided independent study	114	Essay and oral presentation preparation: conducting research and writing the finished product (36 hours per item, 108 hours total)
Guided independent study	70	Preparation for the examination

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Human rights documents and materials: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/

UN Documentation: Human Rights: http://research.un.org/en/docs/humanrights

Universal Human Rights Index: http://uhri.ohchr.org/

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org/

European Convention on Human Rights website: http://human-rights-convention.org/

European Court of Human Rights: http://www.echr.coe.int/

Inter-American Court of Human Rights: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/

African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: http://www.african-court.org/

American Society of International Law Electronic Resource Guide on International Human Rights: http://www.asil.org/erg/?page=ihr

Other Learning Resources

Rosalyn Higgins, Problems & Process: International Law and How We Use It (Clarendon) 1994

Philip Alston and James Crawford (eds.), The Future of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring (CUP) 2000

Philip Alston and Mary Robinson (eds), Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement (OUP) 2005

Andrew Clapham, Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors (OUP) 2006

Christian Tomuschat, Human Rights. Between Idealism and Realism (OUP) 2008

Adam McBeth, Justine Nolan, Simon Rice, The International Law of Human Rights (OUP) 2011

Michael Haas, International Human Rights, 2nd ed (Routledge) 2013