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Transnational Business & Human Rights - JURD7589

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Kensington Campus

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: 36 UOC of JURD courses for students enrolled prior to 2013. For students enrolled after 2013, pre-requisite: 72 UOC of JURD courses.

Excluded: LAWS8189

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course equips students to understand the major human rights concerns arising in the global economy and international attempts to address them. It focuses on the relationship and interconnection between business activities, public policy and human rights obligations with emphasis on: international human rights and development; international investment, trade and human rights; and transnational corporations and human rights.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

The aims listed below are part of the aim of the UNSW School of Law to instil in students the understandings values, skills and qualities necessary to become highly qualified professionals with a strong sense of citizenship, community and social justice. See the Appendix for a detailed description of the Graduate Attributes for Law (GA):

Core disciplinary knowledge :a functioning and contextual knowledge of law and legal institutions
Transferable intellectual skills: excellent intellectual skills of analysis, synthesis, critical judgment, reflection and evaluation
Research skills: the capacity to engage in practical and scholarly research
Communication skills: effective oral and written communication skills both generally and in specific legal settings
Personal and professional values: a commitment to personal and professional self-development, ethical practice and social responsibility

Placing these broader objectives in the specific course context, this course aims:

To examine and analyse the main legal concepts and principles of international human rights law, particularly those rights which relate to global economic activity
To acquire a sound understanding of the core objectives of and legal principles in the main bodies of public international economic law, particularly international trade and investment law
To explore the impacts of international economic law on human rights
To study and evaluate current initiatives for the regulation (and self-regulation) of transnational corporations in relation to human rights
To assess the effectiveness of avenues for enforcement of international human rights principles and law in the global economy

Main Topics

The context: globalisation
The internationalisation of economic law and human rights law
Key objectives, principles and structure of international human rights law
Economic and social rights: character, content, enforcement
The nature of states' obligations under the ICESCR
International trade and human rights in developing countries
Mapping the intersections between human rights and WTO law
Case study: Trade in agriculture, the right to food and the global food crisis
Case study: Intellectual property rights and access to drugs in developing countries
Case study: Trade in services and the right to water
International investment and human rights in developing countries
The human rights responsibilities of transnational corporations
Initiatives to regulate the human rights-related activities of transnational corporations
Climate change and global economic law

Assessment

Class participation 10%
Short Answer Question 10%
Research essay 80%

Course Texts

Prescribed
Course materials must be purchased from the UNSW Bookshop. Additional materials will be distributed during classes. A list of further reading for the course will be posted to the course WebCT site prior to the commencement of classes.

Recommended
None

Order from UNSW Bookshop

Resources

See Course Texts above.