Contemporary Concepts and Problems of International Protection of Human Rights

2024/2025

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

3

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

School of International Law

Course type:

Elective course

When:

4 year, 2 module

Instructor

Дедов Дмитрий Иванович

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course “Contemporary Concepts and Problems of International Protection of Human Rights” is based on various methods of acknowledgment of human rights and fundamental freedoms including orthodox and political theories of human rights, originalist and evolutive approaches on different levels: national and international. The students will get knowledge of certain practical methods of judicial evaluation of human rights like a margin of appreciation, principle of subsidiarity, systemic analysis (holistic approach) and core standards for the State’s positive and negative obligation in relation to each category of human rights and fundamental freedoms established by the international judicial institutions. The standards or general principles will be examined through the interaction and conflict between law and politics, between conservatism and liberalism and between modern concepts of law: naturalism, positivism and pragmatism.The course requires the students to have basic knowledge of law, sufficient level of English (to read legal sources, write essays and participate in class discussions), as well as other skills acquired during their studies at the university. Additional background in theory of law, constitutional law (constitutional rights and freedoms) and civil law is welcome.For each topic the students should read in advance the specified chapter in the required text. Additional reading, from the complimentary materials list, or any other specific articles together with links to relevant websites will be available one week in advance of each class. PowerPoint presentations could also be available, if necessary, two days prior to the class and it is recommended that students print out these presentations or have them electronically or physically available in class.

Learning Objectives

• The aim of the course is to provide students with a theoretical and practical advanced knowledge about the very concept of human rights in the context of public international law as well as constitutional law and the professional vision of the importance and position of human rights law in the international law. The concept of fundamental rights and freedoms will help students with better understanding of modern concepts of law. The students will get advanced knowledge of global, regional as well as national constitutional systems for the protection of human rights of individuals and groups and advanced knowledge of different kinds of rights, their characteristics, interrelationships and implications for national implementations.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students must gain knowledge on: the concept of human rights law; various types of human rights and fundamental freedoms; modern jurisprudence on the protection of human rights; challenges and problems in the implementation of human rights in the national public order.
• Skills and abilities: to use specific terms and sources of the international human rights law; practical abilities of research and analysis of the judicial decisions to protect human rights; skills to analyse and solve cases and controversies, preparing legal argumentation and procedural and analytical documents in the sphere of human rights law.
• ability to work with information (search, evaluate, use information, necessary for fulfilment of academic and professional tasks, from various sources, including application of the systematic approach); to carry out professional activities in the international environment; to search, analyse, and work with legally relevant information by using the juridical, comparative and other specific methods, ability to describe legal problems and situations in the field of international human rights law.

Course Contents

• Human rights and fundamental freedoms as a concept and the forms of its realisation
• Оrthodox and political theories of human rights
• International human rights law as a part of the public international law.
• Rule of law and democracy.
• Methodology of human rights law.
• Approaches on interpretation of catalogue of human rights.
• The problem of universality of human rights.
• Institutional mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
• Classification of fundamental rights and freedoms, their relationship to each other.
• The international human rights law and the international humanitarian law.

Assessment Elements

• Attendance, active participation, colloquia and in-class discussion
  Each student is expected to attend all the sessions having go through and thought about the assigned material, including the questions and any problems in the text/ judgment, podcast, etc. that are assigned, and actively participate in class discussions, ask questions and make analytical comments about the assignments. Sessions will be structured as a mix of lectures, seminars, and participative workshops in order to stimulate class discussion: the participants are expected to cover the assigned materials in advance for each class.
• Oral exam.
  Oral exam by the end of the course.

Interim Assessment

• 2024/2025 2nd module
  0.3 * Attendance, active participation, colloquia and in-class discussion + 0.7 * Oral exam.

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Harris, O'Boyle & Warbrick Law of the European Convention on Human Rights, Harris, D., 2014
• International human rights law and practice, Bantekas, I., 2013

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Finnis, J. (2011). Natural Law and Natural Rights (Vol. 2nd ed). Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=405960

Authors

• SMIRNOVA SVETLANA ANATOLEVNA