UNSW LAW : LAWS4181 - Contemporary Issues in Human Rights

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LLM Specialisation

This course may be counted towards LLM specialisation in International Law; Human Rights and Social Justice.

Units of Credit: 8

Description

This course involves a study of the fundamental legal principles and institutions of international human rights, through the medium of contemporary human rights concerns. The course begins with an examination of the human rights framework in international law and the mechanisms for enforcing human rights including consideration of the position of the United Nations in this era of reform. The course also focuses on gross human rights violations and the responsibility of the international community to protect, the death penalty, refugee protections and discrimination law among other contemporary topics. The course will be taught by Justine Nolan and Gillian Moon and will benefit from the input of several guest speakers on discrete topics. This course is part of a general offering of human rights and social justice topics within the UNSW Law School and aims to provides students with an introductory approach to select human rights issues.

This course may be taken as part of the Master of International Law and International Relations.

Information for Current UNSW Law Students

Course Outline 2008 S2 ;

Objectives

Aims of the course are:

To examine and analyse the main legal concepts and principles of international human rights law
To assess the effectiveness of avenues for enforcement of international human rights principles and law
To develop the skills necessary for communicating and debating the role human rights play in the development of law and society

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

Have a sound knowledge of the main legal concepts and principles of international human rights law
Explain in your own words the meaning of legal concepts, doctrines and principles we have studied
Analyse the primary sources of human rights law
Demonstrate an ethical understanding of the nature of human rights law and be aware of on-going and future issues in the area of human rights
Demonstrate your ability to think critically and to justify your ideas in a reasoned manner, rather than purely by way of dogmatic assertions or emotional responses communicate effectively in speaking and in writing

Main Topics

What are human rights?
Historical context of human rights
Contemporary concerns: cultural relativism vs universality of rights
Framework of the human rights system
Human rights enforcement
UN reform
Equality and non-discrimination: gender, indigenous and disability discrimination
Refugee law
Genocide and the responsibility to protect. Case study: Rwanda
Death Penalty: an aberration on the right to life?