Prerequisite/Recommended prerequisite for participation in the module

Please note, that students who have attended the course ”Videregående menneskeret: aktuelle problemstillinger og dilemmaer” (Danish language) cannot participate in this course.

Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

• To supplement the student’s knowledge and skills in a way that may form part of the student’s choice of educational and professional profile

Learning objectives

Knowledge

• International human rights law, including as an intrin- sic part of public international law
• The concept of human rights from a legal point of view, including considerations on universal applicabil- ity
• The legal and institutional human rights framework of the United Nations, complete with comparative refer- ences to the principal regional systems.
• Admissibility criteria as adopted by relevant treaty monitoring bodies concerning individual communica- tions (complaints)
• The meaning and content of positive state obligations and of limitations on substantive human rights, includ- ing the concept of “state discretion” or “margin of ap- preciation”
• The role of human rights in specific contexts, for ex- ample the ‘war on terror’
• The question of human rights under pressure and that of  the “shrinking space “ for human rights advocates in promoting human rights  

Skills

• Explaining the legal standing of human rights in inter- national law and outlining generally their relationship with other bodies of public international law
• Analysing and applying concepts and terminology inte- gral to the course
• Identifying legal problems in regional and international human rights and applying relevant sources of law in solving these
• Describing the impact and status of human rights in national law
• Researching, presenting and analyzing decisions, general comments, concluding observations and recom- mendations adopted by human rights treaty monitor- ing bodies. Also applicable to illustrative national case law and case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECrtHR)
• Presenting and analyzing the content of substantive provisions as contained in UN human rights instru- ments, considering also both the question of positive State obligations and possible limitations on human rights
• Communicating issues relating to international human rights law in a clear and well-structured manner, using the applicable terminology

Competences

• Explain issues pertaining to international refugee law and reflect and analyze  critically
• Assess and analyse rules and regulations as well as the consequences of the rules
• Qualify identified legal issues within international refugee law
• Be able to work problem-oriented by independently composing a problem and working in an analytical and structured manner
• Become responsible for own learning, development and specialization within the frames international refugee law
• Become able to provide advice on the content of human rights law and the consequences of violating this legal framework

Type of instruction

• Workshops

Extent and expected workload

• 270 hours

Exam

Exams

Name of exam	International Human Rights Law
Type of exam	Oral exam Group Exam of 20 minutes per student. The project is to be written by no more than 4 students and is required to be approximately 10 pages long. Further project requirements will be presented at a separate project introduction.
ECTS	10
Permitted aids	Without aids
Assessment	7-point grading scale
Type of grading	External examination
Criteria of assessment	We refer to the grading scale order

Additional information

• The module is open to students from Law and Business Law