LAWS2225 International Law of Human Rights

Later Year Course

Offered By	Law School
Academic Career	Undergraduate
Course Subject	Laws
Offered in	First Semester, 2012 and Second Semester, 2013
Unit Value	6 units
Course Description	This course aims to provide students with a critical understanding of international human rights law and practice. Topics to be covered include: historical development of international human rights law; international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict) and its relationship with the international law of human rights; human rights ‘enforcement' mechanisms: the UN Human Rights Council, the human rights treaty bodies and human rights regional mechanisms; the rights of women and the rights of indigenous peoples; threats to rights, particularly counter terrorism measures; application of international human rights law in Australia, including refugee issues; and the future development of rights, including collective rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBT) rights.
Learning Outcomes	At the conclusion of this course students should be able to: critically analyse the norms of the international law of human rights and the mechanisms for their implementation advocate effectively the progressive development of the international law of human rights argue the case for observance of particular human rights norms.
Indicative Assessment	The components of the assessment will be: either a class presentation worth 40% or a research paper worth 40%; a class participation mark worth 10%; and a take-home exam worth 50% to be undertaken at the end of the semester. The relationship between the assessment and the learning outcomes for the course will be set out in the course outline. Details of the course means of assessment will be provided on Wattle by the first week of the semester.
Workload	There will be three contact hours per week, made up of one large group lecture and two smaller seminars. The average workload for the course will be 10 hours per week.
Areas of Interest	Law
Requisite Statement	International Law LAWS2250. Completed or completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level.
Prescribed Texts	Daniel Moeckli, Sangeeta Shah and Sandesh Sivakumaran eds International Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press 2010).
Preliminary Reading	Students should read Lynn Hunt's Inventing Human Rights: A history (2007) and Mary Ann Glendon's A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2001). There are copies of both books in the Law Library. Students should also visit the website of Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org) to familiarise themselves with current human rights issues.
Indicative Reading List	The course outline will provide a recommended reading list, including useful web sites.
Other Information	Students may find it helpful to take the course Human Rights Law in Australia LAWS2220 as well at some point in their degree, as the two courses together provide a comprehensive introduction to the law on human rights.
Academic Contact	Kevin Boreham

The information published on the Study at ANU 2012 website applies to the 2012 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2011 website.