LW7142 - International Human Rights Law

You will receive a mixture of lectures and seminars. Lectures introduce core principles and themes, and elucidate particular areas of difficulty or confusion. Seminars provide the opportunity to discuss the principles and themes in context, and to gain insights from the tutor and other students. Lectures and seminars are linked, so that each lecture functions as an initial presentation of key concepts which are then developed more fully in seminar reading and discussion. You will also learn through independent study and reading, guided by readings lists and material on the eLP.

As is always the case, the primary method of support for your learning is the knowledge of the staff who teach on the module, all of whom have extensive academic and practical experience in the field of international human rights law and have published on the topic in the most important law journals in the world, and all of whom are available to help you with difficulties in understanding. In addition to this, a number of supplementary measures are also available. All lectures will be recorded and made available online to you to aid for repeated listening. The module will also make use of the eLearning site (Blackboard Ultra), where lecture materials, online reading lists, podcasts, and other learning support materials will be made available. The module site will also direct you to supplementary resources which you are encouraged to explore in addition to the material covered in lectures and workshops. There are also regular opportunities for you to receive feedback on your work in order to improve.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the module you should be able to:

• You will know the key principles and expert knowledge of the law relating to the modern system of international human rights including its relationship to other areas of international law (e.g. humanitarian and criminal)

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

• You will be able to analyse and apply your knowledge to complex legal and policy issues relating to international human rights law.

• You will be able to critically evaluate diverse source material, from different regional and geographical contexts and consider its application to practical real-world contexts and human rights dilemma.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

• You will develop your critical awareness and you ability to conduct rigorous legal research relevant to global human rights dilemmas and challenges.

Formative assessment
There will be an opportunity to submit a practice essay of 2000 words half-way through the module.

Summative assessment
The module will be assessed by way of a 3000-word essay on a subject chosen from a range of options.

Assessment Criteria and Grade-Related Criteria will be made available to you to support you in completing assessments. Grade-Related Descriptors are descriptions of the level of skills, knowledge and/or attributes that you need to demonstrate in order achieve a certain grade or mark in an assessment, providing a mechanism by which the quality of an assessment can be measured and placed within the overall set of marks.

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This module presents international human rights law as a response taken by the international community to serious humanitarian abuses such as genocide, torture, slavery, enforced disappearance, gender-based persecution as well as mass atrocities in the age of social media. It describes how this has developed into a distinct sphere of international legal practice, and gives you a thorough understanding of that sphere of practice and its capacity to prevent such abuses from taking place. It also describes the relationship between human rights law and international criminal law, and examines how human rights law can be deployed even in circumstances of armed conflict or occupation in order to achieve a more just relationship between the individual and state power.