Objectives:

A participant who has successfully completed this course should:

• Have an overview of the shape of, and trends in, current human rights litigation, both federally and Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT)
• Understand the principles that inform and the procedures which govern and shape, litigation in human rights matters;
• Understand the operation of human rights legislation in litigation;
• Be able to analyse critically the issues of principle and procedure involved in human rights litigation and appreciate the intersection of human rights law and litigation with other areas of litigation.

Content:

The course is designed to provide law graduates with an understanding of the application and vindication of fundamental rights and human rights law in litigation in Australian jurisdictions.

Topics to be covered include:

• Review of human rights legislation (Federal and ACT)
• Examination and analysis of Human Rights Remedies
• Human rights litigation procedures and claims
• Pleadings aspects in human rights matters
• Current developments in human rights litigation
• Prospects for further development in remedies.

At the conclusion of this course students should be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the principles and procedures governing litigation in human rights cases
• apply those principles and procedures in matters of human rights litigation, particularly preparation of originating process, claims and supporting affidavits
• engage in reflective practice in human rights litigation, providing advice and advocacy to clients

Students must rely on the Approved Assessment which will be posted to the course homepage on the ANU Law website, prior to the commencement of the course.

Usual assessment is a 7,500 word research paper on a topic in the field of Human Rights Litigation chosen by the student and approved by Convenor.

26 hrs WebCT

LAWS8153 Introduction to Legal Reasoning and Research (non-lawyers); LAWS8568 Fundamentals of Government and Commercial Law (non-lawyers)

Suggested readings will be listed in the Course Outline later.

This course is run on WebCT. Once enrolled you will need to logon to WebCT at: http://webct.anu.edu.au/login/ using your ISIS username and password. When available students will be able to gain access to the course materials and modules.