LAW 557
International Human Rights Law
(Fynn Bruey)
Prerequisite courses: LAW 506 is recommended
Prerequisite for: None
Instructor: Veronica Fynn Bruey
Course credit: 3
Method of presentation:
METHOD OF EVALUATION
1. Class attendance and participation (10%)
2. Reading Group Presentation (15%)
3. Research Paper Outline (10%)
4. Final Research Paper (65%)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
International human rights law is a broad and complex. Therefore, extremely careful analysis is required to discuss what was once an idea confined to a few European states but now a “universal idea” of human rights. This course will introduce students to the conceptual, normative, theoretical, and practical framework of human rights by examining the United Nations system, regional treaty systems, individual rights, group rights and the rights of vulnerable persons. Focus of the course will be placed on the major sources of customary international human rights, highlighting key mechanisms of protection, contention, and challenge including, the application of human rights in armed conflict, victim’s rights to reparations, obligations of non-state actors, international criminal justice, international trade, and right to sustainable development. The class discussion will also include critical perspectives on human rights from feminists, youths, Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholars, and Indigenous Peoples.
SPECIAL COMMENTS
Description updated 2024-25. Please contact the instructor for any specific questions you may have related to this particular course section.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Ilias Bantekas and Lutz Oette, International Human Rights Law and Practice. Cambridge, 2024.
Philip Alston, International Human Rights Law. NYU Law, 2024.
https://humanrightstextbook.org