This is a course on international human rights law. It is a course that aspires to consider ways in which we can all ‘do human rights law better’.
In this course students will be encouraged to think about international human rights law from first principles. The course classes and reading materials will encourage you to consider and reconsider many assumptions commonly made about human rights law, but also to answer this question: to what extent is the body of international human rights law consistent, predictable, internally coherent, and capable of acting as a guide to states, citizens, lawyers, officials, and judges?
In considering these questions, emphasis will be on examining examples of international human rights reasoning in fine detail, especially at the regional level. Students will be encouraged to read case extracts, and full cases, closely and critically. The extremely influential jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights will receive particular attention.
Criticism of the quality of legal reasoning in human rights documents/judgments will not be discouraged, and it will not be assumed that broader, more expansive, legal protection of human rights is always a good thing.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
By the conclusion of this course, it is intended that students who have successfully completed all of the course requirements will be able to:- Explain, distinguish and apply core and advanced concepts and terminology of international human rights law as used in the key primary and secondary sources;
- Design, implement and review a range of theoretical approaches to the primary and secondary source material;
- Identify and use a range of research principles, methods and tools appropriate to respond to a complex question of international human rights law;
- Identify and critically examine in written and oral form a range of perspectives and values that are relevant to international human rights law;
- Explain and examine whether, and if so, to what extent, international human rights law provides coherent predictable consistent guidance to states, courts, lawyers, officials, and citizens; and
- Plan and execute a research project with independence in order to produce original scholarship on a particular identified area of international human rights law.
Other Information
This is an intensive course with a 4 day compulsory intensive (see LLM timetable for dates).Approximately 6 weeks from the completion of the intensive your final assessment will be due. Contact with fellow students and the convenor, both prior to the intensive and after, is conducted via the Wattle course site.
Indicative Assessment
Assessment for this course is likely to consist of:
- Focused Case Essay (20%, 1500 words)
- Research Assignment (70%, 5000 words)
- Class participation (10%).
Students must rely on the Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately four weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
26 hours of face to face teaching (4 day intensive). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.Click here for the LLM Masters Program timetable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
The prescribed text for this course is International Human Rights by Philip Alston and Ryan Goodman, published 2013 by Oxford University Press (ISBN: 9780199578726). Please note that this book is listed on some catalogues as '2012' and others as '2013'. If in doubt, just double-check the ISBN number above.Preliminary Reading
Students must rely on the approved Course Study Guide which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
Assumed Knowledge
Participants must have completed Principles of International Law (LAWS8182) or equivalent.Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $3252 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $4638 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Autumn Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5556 | 26 May 2016 | 26 May 2016 | 10 Jun 2016 | 29 Jul 2016 | In Person | N/A |
