Source: http://readinglists.nottingham.ac.uk/lists/9ECB237F-B01E-5278-2DAB-5E7073AA65A0.html
Timestamp: 2018-05-22 13:51:18
Document Index: 532501201

Matched Legal Cases: ['UKHL ', 'Arts 27', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 2', 'Art. 2', 'Art 12', 'Art 17', 'Art 8']

International Human Rights Law (LAWW4112) (M34158) | University of Nottingham
International Human Rights Law (LAWW4112) (M34158) 2017/2018
M34158, LAWW4112
19/05/2017 13:06:20
04/04/2018 11:19:13
In addition, students should purchase a copy of:
Seminar One: Introduction and Historical Overview of International Human Rights Law
Seminar Two: Sources of International Human Rights Law
Seminar Three: Human Rights Treaties I: The Nature of Obligations
Seminar Four: Human Rights Treaties II: Limitations to Obligations. The Right to Private Life
Seminar Five: Human Rights Treaties III: Derogations
Seminar Six: Economic and Social Rights I: An Overview
Seminar Seven: Economic and Social Rights II: The Right to Adequate Housing
Seminar Eight: International Oversight of Human Rights I: The UN Treaty Bodies
Seminar Nine: International Oversight of Human Rights II: The UN Human Rights Council and other UN bodies
Seminar Ten: Regional Human Rights Regimes
Seminar Eleven: Civil and Political Rights I: Arbitrary Detention and Fair Trial
Seminar 12: Current Issues I: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law
Seminar 13: Freedom of Expression
Seminar 14: Equality and Non-Discrimination
Seminar 15: Women's Rights
Seminar 16: Current Issues II: Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Treaties
Seminar 17: Privacy in the Digital Age
Texts and Materials 27 items
The recommended textbook for this course is: 1 item
International human rights law - Daniel Moeckli, Sangeeta Shah, Sandesh Sivakumaran, D. J. Harris 20149780199654574
Book Please note that the third edition of Moeckli, Shah and Sivakumaran will be available in December 2017. However, all required readings for this module will refer to the second edition and not this newer edition.
In addition, students should purchase a copy of: 2 items
Blackstone's international human rights documents - Alison Bisset 20169780198768302
This is a collection of relevant international human rights documents and access to the major international human rights treaties will be required in each seminar.
Other texts that may prove useful include: 8 items
Human rights: a very short introduction - Andrew Clapham 20159780198706168
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: cases, materials, and commentary - Sarah Joseph, Melissa Castan c20139780199641949
Human rights: between idealism and realism - Christian Tomuschat 20149780199683727,9780199683734
Textbook on international human rights - Rhona K. M. Smith 20159780198746218
Book (the 8th edition is due to be published in December 2017)
International human rights law - Javaid Rehman 20101405811811,9781405811811
International human rights: the successor to International human rights in context : laws, politics and morals : text and materials - Philip Alston, Ryan Goodman, Henry J. Steiner c20130199578729,9780199578726
International human rights law and practice - Ilias Bantekas, Lutz Oette 20161107125049,1107562112,9781107125049,9781107562110
International human rights law: cases, materials, commentary - Olivier de Schutter 20149781107657212
Other resources 1 item
The University of Nottingham's Library (Hallward Library) has an extensive collection of books and journals on international human rights law. Access is also available to many other journals via the electronic journals and Westlaw links. As a guide, the main human rights journals are referred to in the reading lists.
Useful Websites 15 items
There are also a number of international law and human rights law blogs that you may wish to follow, such as EJIL: Talk!, Opinio Juris, the UK Human Rights Blog, the ECHR Blog, or Strasbourg Observers (find them yourselves).
There is also a list of useful websites at the end of each chapter of Moeckli, Shah and Sivakumaran. Information on other useful electronic resources is always welcome.
Seminar One: Introduction and Historical Overview of International Human Rights Law 20 items
What are we studying in this course? What are human rights? How did the international system of human rights develop? What does the current system of international human rights protection look like? These are all questions that we will endeavour to answer in this introductory seminar.
History - Bates9780199654574
Too Many, or Too Few, Human Rights - Baxi 2001
Conjuring Up New Human Rights: A Proposal for Quality Control - Alston 1984
International human rights in context : the successor to international human rights in context : law, politics, morals : text and materials - Philip Alston, Ryan Goodman 20139780199578726
Book pp. 3-138; 489-508
The history of human rights: from ancient times to the globalization era - Micheline Ishay 2008 (electronic resource)
The New International Law: Protection of the Rights of Individuals Rather Than States - Sohn 1982-1983
The contentious history of the International Bill of Human Rights - Christopher N. J. Roberts 20151107601630,1107014638,9781107601635,9781107014633
Human Rights Histories - C. McCrudden 2015
Politics - Mertus
The evolution of international human rights: visions seen - Paul Gordon Lauren 19980812232747,0812215214
Talking about Human Rights - Harvey 2004
Five Fables about Human Rights - Lukes9780415951593,9780415951609
The Philosophic Foundations of Human Rights - Shestack 1998
What are Human Rights? Four Schools of Thought - Dembour 2010
Critiques - Dembour9780198767237
Normative and Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights - Langlois0199540845,9780199540846
“Framing the project” of international human rights law: reflections on the dysfunctional “family” of the Universal Declaration - Grear110701624X,1107602351,9781107016248,9781107602359
Issues to Consider 1 item
· What are the origins of human rights?
· Why did the international human rights movement develop?
· How successful do you think the international human rights movement has been?
· Do we need new human rights?
Seminar Two: Sources of International Human Rights Law 17 items
International human rights law binds states. In this seminar we will investigate where human rights are located in law: i.e. we will work out 'where and how to find the law' which states must comply with. The sources of international human rights law are those that exist for all branches of international law. We will spend some time discussing the various sources of international human rights law and the controversies that surround them.
Sources - Chinkin9780199654574
The Sources of Human Rights Law: Custom, Jus Cogens, and General Principles - Simma, Alston 1988-1989
The Growing Importance of Customary International Human Rights Law - Lillich 1995-1996
International law - Malcolm N. Shaw 20149781107040861
Book pp. 49-91
Book pp. 72-90; 113-118; 157-165
The Legal Premises for the International Protection of Human Rights - Beyani0198268378
See the other articles in the symposium on customary international human rights law in (1995-1996) 25 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law (issues 1 and 2)
Traditional and Modern Approaches to Customary International Law: A Reconciliation - Roberts 2001
Developing Human Rights Through International Customary Law - Dimitrijevic8791836123,9788791836121
Human Rights in Customary Law: An Attempt to Define Some of the Issues - Hugh Thirlway 2015
The Human Rights Law of the Charter - Sohn 1977
Human Rights and the Magic of Jus Cogens - Bianchi 2008
Hierarchy of Norms and Human Rights: Of Trumps and Winners - Shelton 2002
The Role of Soft Law in the International Legal System: The Case of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Barelli 2009
The Legal Status of Normative Pronouncements of Human Rights Treaty Bodies - Shelton 2011
If international human rights law can be found in treaties, why should we concern ourselves with locating human rights in other sources of international law?
Is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights part of customary international law? If not, does it bind states anyway? Why?
What is a jus cogens norm? What human rights are jus cogens?
Are human rights obligations derived from general principles of international law? What is Simma and Alston's argument in this regard? What is Lillich's critique in this regard?
Do any obligations arise from General Assembly declarations on human rights? What about the outputs of the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies?
Seminar Three: Human Rights Treaties I: The Nature of Obligations 14 items
What are states obliged to do when they sign up to human rights treaties? What is the nature of human rights treaty obligations? Do different 'categories' of human rights impose different duties on states? Building on last week's class, in this seminar we will try to provide some answers to these questions. We will examine the unique nature of human rights treaty obligations and consider the utility of the tri-partite typology of 'respect, protect and fulfil'.
Nature of Obligations - Mégret9780198767237
Chapter pages 124-134 only
General Comment No. 31 - Human Rights Committee 26 May 2004
General Comment No. 3 - Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 14 December 1990
Document p.83
The Nature and Scope of States Parties' Obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Alston, Quinn 1987
General Comment No. 9 - Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 3 December 1998
Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 60/147 of 16 December 2005
Legal differentiation and the concept of the human rights treaty in international law - Craven 2000
Reciprocity in Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law - Provost 1994
General Comment No. 19 on the Right to Social Security - Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The Minimum Core of Economic and Social Rights: A Concept in Search of Content - Young 2008
Dichotomies, Trichotomies or Waves of Duties? - Koch 2005
The nature of the obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights - M. Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona c20039050952607
In what ways are human rights treaty obligations different to those in other types of treaty? Why should they be different?
Are there any differences in the type of obligations set out in the ICCPR and ICESCR?
What do the terms 'respect', 'protect' and 'fulfil' mean? How useful are they when considering the human rights obligations under the ICCPR and ICESCR? Is there a different typology which would more useful?
When a right imposes an obligation of 'progressive realisation' or is subject to 'maximum available resources', is it robbed of any concrete value from the perspective of right-holders?
Seminar Four: Human Rights Treaties II: Limitations to Obligations. The Right to Private Life 15 items
Are all human rights absolute? The simple answer to this question is 'no'. Rights of an absolute character are the exception and, in fact, most human rights treaties provide for limitations to the enjoyment of rights. We will explore the conditions for a legitimate limitation to the enjoyment of human rights in this seminar. The right to private life will be used as an example to show how different international institutions have applied these conditions
(read in order presented; you will need to read the cases carefully to note the reasoning etc employed by the different institutions):
Nature of Obligations - Mégret9780199654574
Chapter pages 110-114 only
Legal Case Document paras 11-91, 167-268 and dissenting opinions only.
Mellet v Ireland (Human Rights Committee)
The Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Dreogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1985
Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1986 1987
The Word ‘Laws’ in Article 30 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights Advisory Opinion OC-06/86 9 May 1986
Marvellous Richness of Diversity or Invidious Cultural Relativism - Mahoney 1998
A DEFENCE OF THE MARGIN OF APPRECIATION AND AN ARGUMENT FOR ITS APPLICATION BY THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE - Dominic McGoldrick 01/2016
Margin of Appreciation, Consensus, and Universal Standards - Benvenisti, E. 1999
Chapter 19, Proportionality, The Oxford handbook of international human rights law - Yutaka Arai-Takahashi
'Don't Use a Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut': Less Restrictive Means in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights - E. Brems, L. Lavrysen 01/03/2015
Safe and Legal Abortion: An Emerging Human Right? The Long-lasting Dispute with State Sovereignty in ECHR Jurisprudence - Chiara Cosentino 09/2015
A, B, C v Ireland: Abortion Law under the European Convention on Human Rights - E. Wicks 01/09/2011
What is the regime for a legitimate limitation to a right? Does the regime differ depending on whether one is considering positive action to be taken by the state (i.e. positive obligations) or a state's obligation to refrain from certain conduct (i.e. negative obligations)?
How useful is the concept of 'proportionality' when considering whether a limitation is legitimate?
What are the differences between the approaches of the Human Rights Committee and the European Court of Human Rights when assessing limitations to the right to private life?
What is the margin of appreciation? What are the benefits of affording states a margin of appreciation? Are there any disadvantages?
Seminar Five: Human Rights Treaties III: Derogations 13 items
General Comment No. 29 - Human Rights Committee 31 August 2001
A and others v Secretary of State for Home Affairs (Belmarsh Detainees) [2004] UKHL 56
Legal Case Document particularly the judgments of Lords Bingham, Hoffmann, and Walker
French Derogation from ECHR
Turkish Derogation from ICCPR
Paris Minimum Standards on Human Rights Norms in a State of Emergency 1985
From Discretion to Scrutiny: Revisiting the Application of the Margin of Appreciation Doctrine in the Context of Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights - Gross, Aolain 2001
Derogations under Human Rights Treaties - Higgins 1976
The UK's Anti-Terror Legislation and the House of Lords: The First Skirmish - Shah, Sangeeta 2005
From Westminster to Strasbourg: A and Others v United Kingdom - Shah, Sangeeta 2009
A 'Public Emergency Threatening the Life of the Nation'? The United Kingdom's Derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights of 18 December 2001 and the 'A' Case - E. Bates 2006
Limitations to and Derogations from Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Muler, Amrei 2009
Habeas Corpus in Emergency Situations (Arts 27(2), 25(1) and 7(6) American Convention on Human Rights), Inter-American Court of Human Rights Advisory Opinion OC-8/87 30 January 1987
What are the requirements for a valid 'derogation' from a human rights treaty?
Should the threat of terrorism be considered a 'public emergency threatening the life of the nation'? Should natural disasters, such as Hurricane Irma, qualify as such an emergency?
Should States have a margin of appreciation when it comes to derogations?
Why do we need derogation clauses in human rights treaties? Do limitations clauses achieve the same result?
Seminar Six: Economic and Social Rights I: An Overview 16 items
This seminar centres on economic and social rights (ESR). Extensive debate exists as to the nature of these rights, as well as to their amenability to judicial enforcement (that is, their justiciability). This seminar will explore the protection of ESR at the international level, with a particular focus on the potential operation of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR that was adopted in December 2008.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 9
Committee on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No.9, 3 December 1998
The Justiciability of Social and Economic Rights: An Updated Appraisal - Aoife Nolan, Bruce Porter, Malcolm Langford
Progress at the Front: The Draft Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Mahon, C. 2008
IDG v Spain (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
Nature and Scope of States Parties' Obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The - Alston, Philip, Gerard Quinn 1987
Book pages 269-78, 313-21.
The Origins of the Optional Protocol - Catherine de Albuquerque, Malcolm Langford
Law Journal Library Nordic Journal of Human Rights - HeinOnline.org
Webpage Read Issue 1 of the 2009 edition (Volume 27)
Social rights jurisprudence: emerging trends in international and comparative law - Malcolm Langford 20089780521860949,9780521678056
Book Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 21
Coming to Terms with Judicial Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights - Pieterse, M. 2004
Why is it that economic and social rights have historically received far less consideration than their civil and political counterparts?
Do you think economic and social rights are justiciable in a different way from civil and political rights? If so, how and why?
How effective do you think the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR will be in terms of ensuring protection of ESR? What are its key strengths and its key weaknesses?
Are courts or regional decision-making bodies the best fora in which to protect economic and social rights? What are the flaws usually apparent in litigation-based human rights campaigning? What other bodies do you think play key roles in terms of the enforcement of economic and social rights?
To what extent does the decision in IDG v Spain succeed in answering the concerns raised by those were opposed to the OP-ICESCR on the grounds that ESR are non-justiciable?
Seminar Seven: Economic and Social Rights II: The Right to Adequate Housing 12 items
Basing our discussions on General Comment Nos 4 and 7 of the CESCR, we will examine the normative content of the right to adequate housing. In doing so, we will consider some of the key issues that arise with regard to defining and applying economic and social rights obligations, whether progressive or immediate in nature. Looking beyond specific instances of housing rights violations, we will consider some of the systemic challenges faced in housing rights terms. In particular, using the 2012 Report on of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing as our primary source, we will consider the implications of the global phenomenon of financialisation of housing for efforts to secure the right to adequate housing for the most vulnerable in society. This session will also explore the role of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing – a UN human rights actor that has played a key role in defining of the content of the right to adequate housing and in clarifying how that right applies with regard to specific groups and contexts.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 4 (1991)
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No 7 (1997)
Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, UN Doc. A/67/286 (10 August 2012)
Chapter 10, Principles, Politics and Practice: The Role of UN Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Adequate Housing in the Development of the Right to Housing in International Law, from: The United Nations special procedures system - Jessie Hohmann 2017
Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, UN Doc. A/HRC/34/51 (18 January 2017)
The right to housing: law, concepts, possibilities - Jessie Hohmann 2013 (electronic resource)
OHCHR | Annual Reports - Adequate housing
'Aggravated Violations', Roma Housing Rights and Forced Expulsions in Italy: Recent Developments under the European Social Charter Collective Complaints System - A. Nolan 01/06/2011
What is the content of the right to adequate housing? What does it protect?
What obligations does the right to adequate housing impose on states and private actors, respectively?
How does the right to adequate housing affect the enjoyment of other human rights?
To what extent do General Comments 4 and 7 capture contemporary housing rights challenges? Should they be updated? If so, how?
To what extent does the work of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing 'fill the gaps' in the right to adequate housing framework? Is this desirable?
Seminar Eight: International Oversight of Human Rights I: The UN Treaty Bodies 26 items
In seminars 8 and 9, we will consider the oversight and enforcement of human rights at the international level. Seminar 8 will focus on the work of the various UN bodies that monitor the principal human rights treaties (the UN treaty bodies) while seminar 9 will consider the UN Human Rights Council and other UN mechanisms.
United Nations - Connors, Schmidt9780199654574
General Comment 24 - Human Rights Committee
Extract from Chapter 10, Section 3. The making of treaties, from: Cases and materials on international law - D.J. Harris 2015
Chapter Compare the excerpted response of France, the UK and the US at pages 667-9 (also available on moodle)
Report of the USA to the Human Rights Committee and Concluding Observations of the Committee0199578729,9780199578726
Document 772-785 (also on moodle)
General Assembly Resolution 68/268
Webpage A useful overview
Chapter 9. Treaty Bodies: The ICCPR Human Rights Committee, from: International human rights: the successor to International human rights in context : laws, politics and morals : text and materials - Philip Alston
Final Report on enhancing the long-term effectiveness of the United Nations human rights treaty system, E/CN.4/1997/74 27 March 1996
Document [a dated but influential and in many respects still pertinent assessment]
United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures of the Commission on Human Rights - Complementarity or Competition - Rodley, Nigel 2003
The Concluding Observations of United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies - O'Flaherty, Michael 2006
The Role and Impact of Treaty Bodies - Nigel Rodley9780199640133
A World Court for Human Rights - Trechsel, Stefan 2003
The Historical Origins of the Concept of “General Comments” in Human Rights Law - Alston904111582x
Concept Paper on the High Commissioner’s Proposal for a Unified Standing Treaty Body, HRI/MC/2006/2 22 March 2006
Document A useful overview
Reform of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Bodies: A Critique of the Concept Paper on the High Commissioner's Proposal for a Unified Standing Treaty Body - O'Flaherty, Michael 2007
Cynical Savings or Reasonable Reform - Reflections on a Single Unified UN Human Rights Treaty Body - Johnstone, Rachael Lorna 2007
The Need for a World Court of Human Rights - Nowak, Manfred 2007
The future of UN human rights treaty monitoring - Philip Alston, James Crawford 20000521641950,0521645743
The UN human rights treaty system in the 21st century - Anne F. Bayefsky 20009041114157,9789041114150
Human rights and the UN: practice before the treaty bodies - Michael O'Flaherty c20029041117881
UN human rights treaty bodies: law and legitimacy - Helen Keller, Geir Ulfstein, Leena Grover 20121107006546,9781107006546
Defining Civil and Political Rights - Conte, Alex 2009
Book Chapter 2, especially 20-34 on the criteria for admissibility
The Relationship between the European Court of Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee: Has the Same Matter Already Been Examined - Phuong, Catherine 2007
Book Part II [on admissibility]
What precisely is the role of a UN human rights treaty body?
How does a communication end up before a treaty body?
How useful are the treaty bodies?
What are the weaknesses of the treaty bodies?
What do you think of the proposal to substitute the various individual treaty bodies for a single, unified body? Or to substitute it with a World Court of human rights?
Seminar Nine: International Oversight of Human Rights II: The UN Human Rights Council and other UN bodies 26 items
Following on from the UN human rights treaty bodies, we will turn our attention to the UN Human Rights Council and other UN bodies that have a role to play in the oversight and enforcement of human rights. The main entity in this regard is that of the Human Rights Council. Other bodies, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Security Council will also be considered.
Chapter 360-375 and 388-396
Chapter 8, The United Nations Human Rights System. B The UN Human Rights Council, from: International human rights: the successor to International human rights in context : laws, politics and morals : text and materials - Philip Alston 2013
Chapter scan available on moodle
UK’s Universal Periodic Review – Annex Document, September 2012, A/HRC.21/9 Add.1
Document Annex E (on moodle) [have a quick read of the various UPR recommendations and the UK’s position on these recommendations]
The United Nations and human rights: a critical appraisal - Philip Alston 19920198254504
Book [an old but important work]
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: conscience for the world - Christen Broecker, Felice D. Gaer, ebrary 2013
Catalysts for Change : How the U.N.'s Independent Experts Promote Human Rights - Piccone, Theodore J. 2012
The United Nations special procedures system - Aoife Nolan, Rosa Freedman, Thérèse Murphy 2017900430469X,9789004304697
The United Nations Human Rights Council: a critique and early assessment - Rosa Freedman 20139780415640329
International human rights monitoring mechanisms: essays in honour of Jakob Th. Möller - Gudmundur Alfredsson 20019041114459
Neither Fish nor Fowl: The Quest to Define the Role of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - Alston, Philip 1997
To Preserve and Build on Its Achievements and to Redress Its Shortcomings: The Journey from the Commission on Human Rights to the Human Rights Council - Lauren, Paul Gordon 2007
The United Nations Human Rights Council: Origins, Antecedents, and Prospects - Boyle019957054X,9780199570546
Developments at the Human Rights Council in 2007: A Reflection of Its Ambivalence - Callejon 2008
Promoting the Accountability of Members of the New UN Human Rights Council - Alston, Philip 2005-2006
Of Shaming and Bargaining: African States and the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council - Abebe, Allehone Mulugeta 2009
An NGO Assessment of the New Mechanisms of the UN Human Rights Council - Sweeney, Gareth 2009
United Nations Human Rights Council: A Promise to be Fulfilled - Scannella, Patrizia 2007
Reconceiving the UN Human Rights Regime: Challenges Confronting the New UN Human Rights Council - Alston, Philip 2006
Reforming the UN Human Rights Protection Procedures: A Legal Perspective on the Establishment of the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism - Bernaz019957054X,9780199570546
United Nations Charter-Based Protection of Human Rights - Clapham
Special Procedures and the Human Rights Council: Achievements and Challenges Ahead - Gutter, Jeroen 2007
The United Nations Human Rights Council, Its Special Procedures, and its Relationship with the Treaty Bodies: Complementarity or Competition? - Rodley019957054X,9780199570546
The Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee and Human Rights - Flynn, E.J. 2007
CANTÚ RIVERA, Humberto (ed.), The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council - Santiago Ramirez Reyes 2017
To what extent is the Human Rights Council politicized? Can such a body ever be apolitical?
What role, if any, should the General Assembly and Security Council play in the enforcement of human rights?
Does the work of the Charter-based bodies complement or overlap with the work of the treaty bodies?
Seminar Ten: Regional Human Rights Regimes 18 items
The UN mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights are not the only international human rights systems. Regional human rights systems exist for Europe, Africa and the Americas and there is also an ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights for Southeast Asian nations. In this seminar we will consider the benefits of regional regimes and examine the functions they perform, focussing specifically on the human rights work of the OAS and the AU. We will also consider whether regional human rights standards detract from the universality of human rights.
Chapter Essential Chapter 19 Pasqualucci, 'The Americas'
Chapter Essential Chapter 21 Heyns and Killander, 'Africa'
Steiner, Alston and Goodman (eds), International Human Rights in Context. Law, Politics and Morals
Chapter Essential Photocopy attached to hard copy reading list
Review your notes from the seminars on the UN human rights protection bodies (Seminars 8 and 9) in order to help you consider the 'issues to be considered'.
Regional protection of human rights - Dinah Shelton, Paolo Wright-Carozza 20130199941521,0199324549,019930162X,9780199324545,9780199941520,9780199301621
Forum Shopping for Human Rights - Helfer, Laurence R. 1999-2000
The Cambridge companion to human rights law - C. A. Gearty, Costas Douzinas 2012110701624X,1107602351,9781107016248,9781107602359
Book Beyani, 'Reconstructing the Universal: Human Rights as a Regional Idea' 173ff
Universality and the Growth of Regional Systems - Christof Heyns, Magnus Killander9780199640133
Integrated Enforcement of Human Rights, The - Saunders, Pammela Quinn 2012-2013
Towards convergence in international human rights law: approaches of regional and international systems - Carla Buckley, Alice Donald, Philip Leach, University of Nottingham. School of Law 20179004284249,9789004284241
State Compliance with the Recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, 1994-2004 - Frans Viljoen and Lirette Louw 2007
Between Universalism and Regional Law and Politics: A Comparative History of the American, European and African Human Rights Systems - Alexandra Valeria Huneeus, Mikael Rask Madsen 2017
The Relevance of the Inter-American Human Rights System for Africa - Viljoen, F. 1999
Import, Export, and Regional Consent in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights - G. L. Neuman 01/02/2008
The Rise of the Inter-American Human Rights Regime: No Longer a Unicorn, Not Yet an Ox - Tom J Farer 1997
The Inter-American System of Human Rights: Challenges for the Future - Grossman, C. 2008
• What are the main organs of the OAS and AU responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights? What functions do these bodies perform? What human rights standards do these bodies seek to promote and protect?
• What makes a 'successful' regional human rights institution?
• Do regional human rights treaties detract from the idea of universality of human rights?
• Do regional human rights bodies duplicate the work of the UN human rights bodies?
Seminar Eleven: Civil and Political Rights I: Arbitrary Detention and Fair Trial 12 items
Human rights law provides elaborate provisions that regulate the administration of justice. The right to liberty limits the power of States to detain individuals and it provides safeguards against the ill-treatment of detainees. The right to a fair trial regulates the organisation of court systems and court proceedings.
In this seminar we will explore the scope and substance of these rights through the prism of working through a problem scenario. This will be essential preparation for the Section A element of the examination in the summer.
Detention and Trial - Sangeeta Shah9780199654574
Human Rights Committee, General Comment 35
Human Rights Committee, General Comment 32
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No 54/2015 22 January 2016
The treatment of prisoners under international law - Nigel S. Rodley, Matt Pollard, Oxford University Press 2015 (electronic resource)
Book Chapter 11. See also chapters 8 and 9.
The African Commission on Human and People's Rights and the Development of Fair Trial Norms in Africa - Udombana, N. J. 2006
Inter-American Commission, Report on the Use of Pretrial Detention in the Americas
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Deliberation No 9 concerning the definition and scope of arbitrary detention in customary international law (2013)
Document Section III
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Procedures and Summary of Jurisprudence - David S. Weissbrodt, Brittany Mitchell 2016
Travaux Preparatoires of the Fair Trial Provisions -- Articles 8 to 11 -- of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - David S Weissbrodt, Mattias Hallendorff 1999
In what circumstances is the deprivation of liberty justified?
Was Julian Assange subjected to a regime of arbitrary detention?
What guarantees are available to persons deprived of their liberty?
What are the main protections provided by the right to a fair trial?
What additional protections are provided for persons accused of committing a criminal offence?
What remedies are available for violations of these rights?
Seminar 12: Current Issues I: International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law 13 items
This seminar will look at how human rights apply during armed conflict, i.e. at the interaction between IHRL and international humanitarian law. In doing so we will examine the nature and role of the lex specialis principle, and review recent case law on the topic, with a focus on detention issues.
The Interplay between International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law in Situations of Armed Conflict - Droege, C. 2007
Serdar Mohammed v. MoD
Legal Case Document Essential skim and focus on paras. 239-294, 356
Norm Conflicts, International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law - Milanovic, Marko
The Lost Origins of Lex Specialis: Rethinking the Relationship between Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law - Milanovic, Marko
Extraterritorial Derogations from Human Rights Treaties in Armed Conflict - Milanovic, Marko
A Conflict of Norms: The Relationship Between Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law in the ICRC Customary Law Study - H. Krieger 12/07/2006
International human rights and humanitarian law - René Provost, ebrary, Inc 2002 (electronic resource)
A Human Rights Law of Internal Armed Conflict: The European Court of Human Rights in Chechnya - William Abresch 01/09/2005
International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law - Louise Doswald-Beck, Sylvain Vité 1993-4
International humanitarian law and international human rights law: pas de deux - Orna Ben Naftali, Oxford University Press 2011 (electronic resource)
How does the lex specialis principle operate? Are there several varieties thereof?
How do the IHL and IHRL approaches to deprivations of life and liberty differ in substance?
Seminar 13: Freedom of Expression 13 items
This seminar will look at the freedom of expression. This is a vast topic, and we will be looking at it from one specific angle – the regulation of offensive speech – comparing it with other forms of extreme expression, such as hate speech.
Thought, Expression, Association and Assembly - Kevin Boyle, Sangeeta Shah 20149780199654574
Human Rights Committee General Comment 34
The Exceptional First Amendment - Frederick Schauer 2005
Book pages 651-681
Freedom of speech - E. M. Barendt 20050199244510
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights: a dialogue on freedom of expression standards - Bertoni
Extreme speech and democracy - Ivan Hare, James Weinstein, Oxford University Press 2009 (electronic resource)
State Security v Freedom of Expression: Legitimate Fight against Terrorism or Suppression of Political Opposition? - H. Keller, M. Sigron 01/03/2010
Keun-Tae Kim (represented by Mr.Yong Whan Cho, Duksu Law Offices, in Seoul) v. Republic of Korea, Communication No 574/1994 CCPR/C/64/D/574/1994(4 January 1999).
• What is the test to be applied to determine whether there has been a violation of the freedom of expression?
• How would you distinguish between hate speech and offensive speech?
• Is there a right not to be offended?
• Does the international human rights approach to regulating the freedom of expression compare favourably to US First Amendment jurisprudence?
Seminar 14: Equality and Non-Discrimination 20 items
The purpose of this seminar is to provide a basic grounding in equality and non-discrimination under international human rights law (including the ECHR). This seminar will rely heavily on a close reading of the judgments set out in the essential reading. You must have read all the material set out in the essential reading and will be expected, at the very least, to be able to give upon questioning a succinct and accurate account of the facts, issues, and holding of each case.
Articles 2(1) and 26, ICCPR; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1966; Article 14, ECHR and Protocol 12 to the ECHR
Jacobs v Belgium
The Concepts of Equality and Non-Discrimination in Europe: A Practical Approach - McCrudden, Prechal
Should the non-discrimination requirement be a free standing right or one that is parasitic on other rights? What difference does it make?
What should the scope of the requirement of non-discrimination be? In particular, how far should there be a requirement on states to prevent discrimination in non-state activities?
On what grounds should discrimination be prohibited? Should different grounds have greater protection?
What is the wrong that a prohibition of discrimination is supposed to prevent? How far should the idea of discrimination depend on what the effect on the victim is or the intentions of the perpetrator?
Can you have a concept of justified discrimination? How far should the non-discrimination norm reach, particularly where it comes into conflict with other rights?
How far should the concept of non-discrimination be interpreted as a purely negative obligation, or should states also be under an obligation to go further?
How far should positive (or affirmative) action be regarded as consistent with the non-discrimination obligation?
What is the relationship between non-discrimination and minority rights?
Seminar 15: Women's Rights 17 items
CEDAW and Optional Protocol (bring to class)
Chapter Essential Chapter 16
The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: a commentary - Marsha A. Freeman, C. M. Chinkin, Beate Rudolf, MyiLibrary 2012 (electronic resource)
Book Essential pages 142-167 only
Not Waving but Drowning: Gender Mainstreaming and Human Rights in the United Nations - Charlesworth, H. 2005
Individual communications to CEDAW Committee
Feminist Influences on the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies - Johnstone, R. 2006
Feminist Approaches to International Law - Charlesworth, H.; Chinkin, C.; Wright, S. 1991
Violence against Women, the Obligation of Due Diligence, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - Recent Developments - Byrnes, A.; Bath, E. 2008
Enemies or Allies - Feminism and Cultural Relativism as Dissident Voices in Human Rights Discourse - Brems, E. 1997
International Intersectionality: A Theoretical and Pragmatic Exploration of Women's International Human Rights Violations - Bond, J. E. 2003
Treaty Body Reform: The Case of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women - Schopp-Schilling, H. 2007
What are Women's International Human Rights? - Charlesworth
CESCR General Comment 16
African Protocol on the Rights of Women
Do non-discrimination provisions adequately protect women?
Can women's rights just be added to existing human rights provisions or is a total restructuring of human rights law needed?
Would addressing gender stereotypes and fixed gender roles serve to remedy the majority of human rights violations experienced by women? Justify your answer.
What is gender mainstreaming? Will it address the deficiencies of current human rights protection offered by the UN?
Seminar 16: Current Issues II: Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Treaties 23 items
This seminar will explore various issues regarding the scope of human rights treaties. It will focus on a very topical question – the applicability of human rights treaties to state conduct that affects the rights of individuals outside the state's borders. These issues vary from the applicability of the ECHR to the UK occupation of Southern Iraq, to the use of drones against suspected terrorists in Pakistan or Yemen, and mass electronic surveillance by the NSA and GCHQ.
This seminar will rely heavily on a close reading of the judgments set out in the essential reading. You must have read the two cases set out in the essential reading and will be expected, at the very least, to be able to give upon questioning a succinct and accurate account of the facts, issues, and holding of each case.
ILC Articles on State Responsibility 2001
Compare the applicability or jurisdiction clauses of the major treaties, including Art. 1 ECHR, Art. 2(1) ICCPR, and the relevant articles of the CAT (e.g. Art. 2, 5, 7, etc.)
Scope of Application - Sarah Joseph, Adam Fletcher9780199654574
BANKOVIÄ� AND OTHERS v. BELGIUM AND OTHERS
Extraterritorial application of human rights treaties - Fons Coomans, Menno T. Kamminga c20049050953948,9789050953948
The reach of human rights in a globalising world: extraterritorial application of human rights treaties - Michał Gondek c20099050958176,9789050958172
From Compromise to Principle: Clarifying the Concept of State Jurisdiction in Human Rights Treaties - M. Milanovic 01/01/2008
Extraterritorial application of human rights treaties: law, principles and policy - Marko Milanovic, Oxford University Press 2011 (electronic resource)
Al-Skeini and Al-Jedda in Strasbourg - M. Milanovic 01/02/2012
The ECHR in Iraq: The Judgment of the House of Lords in R (Al-Skeini) v. Secretary of State for Defence - T. Thienel 01/03/2008
Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory | International Court of Justice
Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda) | International Court of Justice
Legal Case Document Paragraphs 64-67
Triggering State Obligations Extraterritorially: The Spatial Test in Certain Human Rights Treaties - Wilde, R. 2007
What is attribution of conduct in terms of the law of state responsibility?
What are the different senses of the term 'scope' of human rights treaties? What different concepts are we to examine?
What is the jurisdiction of a state? Is there a single concept of jurisdiction?
Who is protected by human rights treaties? Is sovereignty or title over territory relevant for their application?
Seminar 17: Privacy in the Digital Age 14 items
This seminar will look at the right to privacy, with a particular focus on how it applies in the digital age. We will be examining closely various legal issues raised by mass electronic surveillance.
Art 12 UDHR, Art 17 ICCPR and Art 8 ECHR
GA Resolution 68/167 (18 December 2013)
Human Rights Committee General Comment 16
International Principles for the Application of Human Rights to Communication Surveillance
An International Legal Framework for Surveillance - Deeks, A. 2015
The NSA in Global Perspective: Surveillance, Human Rights, and International Counterterrorism - Margulies, P. 2014
Human Rights Treaties and Foreign Surveillance: Privacy in the Digital Age - Milanovic, M. 2015
EJIL: Talk! – ECHR Jurisdiction and Mass Surveillance: Scrutinising the UK Investigatory Power Tribunal’s Recent Ruling
• How do we know whether a particular human activity falls within the scope of the right to privacy?
• What is the test to be applied to determine whether there has been a violation of the right to privacy?
• What are the specific challenges that electronic surveillance poses to the right to privacy?