Human Rights

This is a core course in the Law School’s human rights curriculum. After introducing the subject in the context of a case study on extraordinary rendition of terrorism suspects, the course examines the origins of the idea of rights from a historical, philosophical and analytical perspective. It then turns to the rise of the modern international human rights regime, including its theoretical foundations, and examines the basic international and regional human rights instruments and oversight and enforcement institutions, including the European, Latin American and African human rights regimes, and the UN system, including UN treaty bodies, the Human Rights Council, and the Security Council. The course also explores contemporary topics in the field of human rights, including the human rights of women and refugees; the relationship with international criminal law and international humanitarian law; extraterritorial application of human rights law; economic, social and cultural rights; freedom of expression, and fair trial rights, among others.